Systems and methods for saas overlays using an embedded browser

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described include systems and methods for displaying overlays for a network application. A client application on a client device can establish a session to a network application accessed via an embedded browser of the client application. The embedded browser of the client application may receive and display a web page of the network application. Based on one or more conditions and/or policies, the client application may identify and display overlay content over the web page in the embedded browser. The overlay content may include, but is not limited to, training videos, tutorials, social options (e.g., emoticons, likes), form help text, form autofill suggestions, and/or navigation assistance. Once the overlay content is presented, feedback can be received in order to modify the subsequent overlays.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present application generally relates to management of applications,including but not limited to systems and methods for displayingsoftware-as-a-service (SaaS) overlays using an embedded browser.

BACKGROUND

As the workforce of an enterprise becomes more mobile and work undervarious conditions, an individual can use one or more client devices,including personal devices, to access network resources such as webapplications. Due to differences between the client devices and themanner in which network resources can be accessed, there are significantchallenges to the enterprise in managing access to network resources andmonitoring the usage of resources as well as providing sufficient levelof support to its users.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods fordisplaying overlays on a network application via an embedded browser ona client device. SaaS applications, also referred to as networkapplications, are not easily customizable by the enterprise and suchcustomizations require large costs to be paid to software consultants.Furthermore, the workflow of SaaS applications can be complex causingusers to need training on usage. This training can decrease userproductivity and cost the organization. In addition, SaaS applicationscan be monotonous which decreases user engagement. To address thepreviously mentioned concerns, an embedded browser within a clientapplication on a client device can display overlay content on top of anetwork application. The overlay content may provide the user withtraining videos, tutorials, social options (e.g., emoticons, likes),form help text, form autofill suggestions, or navigation assistance.Once the overlay content is presented, feedback can be received in orderto modify the subsequent overlays.

A client application on a client device can establish a session to anetwork application accessed via an embedded browser of the clientapplication. The embedded browser of the client application may receiveand display a web page of the network application. The clientapplication may identify one or more overlays to be displayed over theweb page in the embedded browser based on one or more conditions orpolicies. The client application may display the one or more overlaysover the web page in the embedded browser. In certain embodiments, theembedded browser may display the one or more overlays over the web pageor contents of the web page. In some embodiments, the client applicationcan receive and maintain data relating to the display of the one or moreoverlays over the web page. This data could be further utilized tomodify future overlay content.

In one aspect, this disclosure is directed to a method for displayingone or more overlays for a network application accessed via an embeddedbrowser of the client application. The method includes, establishing, bya client application on a client device, one or more sessions to one ormore network applications accessed via an embedded browser of the clientapplication. The method includes receiving, by the embedded browser ofthe client application, a web page of a network application of the oneor more network applications. The method includes identifying, by theclient application based at least on the network application, one ormore overlays to be displayed over the web page in the embedded browser.The method includes displaying, by the client application, the one ormore overlays over the web page in the embedded browser.

In some embodiments, the embedded browser is integrated into the clientapplication. In some embodiments, the network application comprises anapplication hosted on a server accessed by the client device via anetwork, the entity of the server different from the entity of theclient device. In some embodiments, the method may include identifying aform of the web page.

In some embodiments, the method may include identifying the one or moreoverlays based on the form of the webpage of the network application. Insome embodiments, the one or more overlays comprise a navigation elementprompting the user to interact with a portion of the web page. In someembodiments, the method may include identifying one or more overlays tobe displayed further comprises identifying the one or more overlaysbased on a policy for the network application.

In some embodiments, the method may include displaying, by the embeddedbrowser, the one or more overlays. In some embodiments, the one or moreoverlays are provided to the client application via a second entitydifferent from an entity of the server hosting the network application.

In some embodiments, the method may include maintaining, by the clientapplication in a data structure, statistics relating to the display ofthe one or more overlays over the web page in the embedded browser. Insome embodiments, the method may include transmitting, by the clientapplication, the statistics relating to the display of the one or moreoverlays to a second entity different from an entity of the serverhosting the network application, the statistics used by the secondentity to inform i) the provider of the network application to updatethe network application based on the statistics received from aplurality of client applications including the client application or ii)an entity generating the overlays to update one or more overlays basedon the statistics received from a plurality of client applicationsincluding the client application.

In another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a system fordisplaying one or more overlays for a network application accessed viaan embedded browser of the client application. The system includes aclient application on a client device in communication with a firstserver of a first entity, via an embedded browser of the clientapplication. The client application can establish one or more sessionsto one or more network applications accessed via an embedded browser ofthe client application. The client application can receive, by theembedded browser of the client application, a web page of a networkapplication of the one or more network applications. The clientapplication can identify based at least on the network application, oneor more overlays to be displayed over the web page in the embeddedbrowser. The client application can display the one or more overlaysover the web page in the embedded browser.

In some embodiments, the embedded browser is integrated into the clientapplication. In some embodiments the network application comprises anapplication hosted on a server accessed by the client device via anetwork, the entity of the server different from the entity of theclient device. In some embodiments, the system can identify based atleast on the network application, one or more overlays to be displayedover the web page in the embedded browser, the client application isfurther configured to identify a form of the web page.

In some embodiments, the client application can identify a form of theweb page, the client application is further configured to the one ormore overlays based on the form of the webpage of the networkapplication. In some embodiments, the one or more overlays include anavigation element prompting the user to interact with a portion of theweb page. In some embodiments, the client application can identify basedat least on the network application, one or more overlays to bedisplayed over the web page in the embedded browser, the clientapplication is further configured to identify the one or more overlaysbased on a policy for the network application.

In some embodiments, the client application can display the one or moreoverlays over the web page in the embedded browser the clientapplication is further configured to display, by the embedded browser,the one or more overlays. In some embodiments, the one or more overlaysare provided to the client application via a second entity differentfrom an entity of the server hosting the network application. In someembodiments, the client application is further configured to maintain ina data structure, statistics relating to the display of the one or moreoverlays over the web page in the embedded browser.

In some embodiments, the client application is further configured totransmit the statistics relating to the display of the one or moreoverlays to a second entity different from an entity of the serverhosting the network application, the statistics used by the secondentity to inform i) the provider of the network application to updatethe network application based on the statistics received from aplurality of client applications including the client application or ii)an entity generating the overlays to update one or more overlays basedon the statistics received from a plurality of client applicationsincluding the client application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and advantages ofthe present solution will become more apparent and better understood byreferring to the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of embodiments of a computing device;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of cloudservices for use in accessing resources;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an enterprisemobility management system;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a system 400 of an embedded browser;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a system for usinga secure browser;

FIG. 6 is an example representation of an implementation for browserredirection using a secure browser plug-in;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of example embodiment of a system of using asecure browser;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of a system for usinglocal embedded browser(s) and hosted secured browser(s);

FIG. 9 is an example process flow for using local embedded browser(s)and hosted secured browser(s); and

FIG. 10 is an example embodiment of a system for managing user access towebpages.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an overlay agentexecuting on a client application for managing the display of overlaycontent and providing feedback.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an example embodiment of an overlayservice of a system for managing overlay content and feedback.

FIG. 13 is an example embodiment of a system for displaying overlaycontent and receiving feedback.

FIG. 14 is an example process flow for displaying overlay content.

FIG. 15 is an example process flow for modifying overlay content.

The features and advantages of the present solution will become moreapparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the drawings, in which like reference charactersidentify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, likereference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar,and/or structurally similar elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For purposes of reading the description of the various embodimentsbelow, the following descriptions of the sections of the specificationand their respective contents may be helpful:

Section A describes a computing environment which may be useful forpracticing embodiments described herein.

Section B describes systems and methods for an embedded browser.

Section C describes systems and methods for displaying overlays for anetwork application.

A. Computing Environment

Prior to discussing the specifics of embodiments of the systems andmethods detailed herein in Section B, it may be helpful to discuss thecomputing environments in which such embodiments may be deployed.

As shown in FIG. 1, computer 101 may include one or more processors 103,volatile memory 122 (e.g., random access memory (RAM)), non-volatilememory 128 (e.g., one or more hard disk drives (HDDs) or other magneticor optical storage media, one or more solid state drives (SSDs) such asa flash drive or other solid state storage media, one or more hybridmagnetic and solid state drives, and/or one or more virtual storagevolumes, such as a cloud storage, or a combination of such physicalstorage volumes and virtual storage volumes or arrays thereof), userinterface (UI) 123, one or more communications interfaces 118, andcommunication bus 150. User interface 123 may include graphical userinterface (GUI) 124 (e.g., a touchscreen, a display, etc.) and one ormore input/output (I/O) devices 126 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, amicrophone, one or more speakers, one or more cameras, one or morebiometric scanners, one or more environmental sensors, one or moreaccelerometers, etc.). Non-volatile memory 128 stores operating system115, one or more applications 116, and data 117 such that, for example,computer instructions of operating system 115 and/or applications 116are executed by processor(s) 103 out of volatile memory 122. In someembodiments, volatile memory 122 may include one or more types of RAMand/or a cache memory that may offer a faster response time than a mainmemory. Data may be entered using an input device of GUI 124 or receivedfrom I/O device(s) 126. Various elements of computer 101 may communicatevia one or more communication buses, shown as communication bus 150.

Computer 101 as shown in FIG. 1 is shown merely as an example, asclients, servers, intermediary and other networking devices and may beimplemented by any computing or processing environment and with any typeof machine or set of machines that may have suitable hardware and/orsoftware capable of operating as described herein. Processor(s) 103 maybe implemented by one or more programmable processors to execute one ormore executable instructions, such as a computer program, to perform thefunctions of the system. As used herein, the term “processor” describescircuitry that performs a function, an operation, or a sequence ofoperations. The function, operation, or sequence of operations may behard coded into the circuitry or soft coded by way of instructions heldin a memory device and executed by the circuitry. A “processor” mayperform the function, operation, or sequence of operations using digitalvalues and/or using analog signals. In some embodiments, the “processor”can be embodied in one or more application specific integrated circuits(ASICs), microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), graphicsprocessing units (GPUs), microcontrollers, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), multi-core processors,or general-purpose computers with associated memory. The “processor” maybe analog, digital or mixed-signal. In some embodiments, the “processor”may be one or more physical processors or one or more “virtual” (e.g.,remotely located or “cloud”) processors. A processor including multipleprocessor cores and/or multiple processors multiple processors mayprovide functionality for parallel, simultaneous execution ofinstructions or for parallel, simultaneous execution of one instructionon more than one piece of data.

Communications interfaces 118 may include one or more interfaces toenable computer 101 to access a computer network such as a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN),or the Internet through a variety of wired and/or wireless or cellularconnections.

In described embodiments, the computing device 101 may execute anapplication on behalf of a user of a client computing device. Forexample, the computing device 101 may execute a virtual machine, whichprovides an execution session within which applications execute onbehalf of a user or a client computing device, such as a hosted desktopsession. The computing device 101 may also execute a terminal servicessession to provide a hosted desktop environment. The computing device101 may provide access to a computing environment including one or moreof: one or more applications, one or more desktop applications, and oneor more desktop sessions in which one or more applications may execute.

Additional details of the implementation and operation of networkenvironment, computer 101 and client and server computers may be asdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,538,345, issued Jan. 3, 2017 to CitrixSystems, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the teachings of which arehereby incorporated herein by reference.

B. Systems and Methods for an Embedded Browser

The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods of anembedded browser. A client application executing on a client device canallow a user to access applications (apps) that are served from and/orhosted on one or more servers, such as web applications andsoftware-as-a-service (SaaS) applications (hereafter sometimes generallyreferred to as network applications). A browser that is embedded orintegrated with the client application can render to the user a networkapplication that is accessed or requested via the client application,and can enable interactivity between the user and the networkapplication. The browser is sometimes referred to as an embeddedbrowser, and the client application with embedded browser (CEB) issometimes referred to as a workspace application. The client applicationcan establish a secure connection to the one or more servers to providean application session for the user to access the network applicationusing the client device and the embedded browser. The embedded browsercan be integrated with the client application to ensure that trafficrelated to the network application is routed through and/or processed inthe client application, which can provide the client application withreal-time visibility to the traffic (e.g., when decrypted through theclient application), and user interactions and behavior. The embeddedbrowser can provide a seamless experience to a user as the networkapplication is requested via the user interface (shared by the clientapplication and the embedded browser) and rendered through the embeddedbrowser within the same user interface.

The client application can terminate one end of a secured connectionestablished with a server of a network application, such as a securesockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) connection. The clientapplication can receive encrypted traffic from the network application,and can decrypt the traffic before further processing (e.g., renderingby the embedded browser). The client application can monitor thereceived traffic (e.g., in encrypted packet form), and also have fullvisibility into the decrypted data stream and/or the SSL stack. Thisvisibility can allow the client application to perform or facilitatepolicy-based management (e.g., including data loss prevention (DLP)capabilities), application control (e.g., to improve performance,service level), and collection and production of analytics. Forinstance, the local CEB can provide an information technology (IT)administrator with a controlled system for deploying web and SaaSapplications through the CEB, and allow the IT administrator to setpolicies or configurations via the CEB for performing any of theforgoing activities.

Many web and SaaS delivered applications connect from web servers togeneric browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox, and so on) of users.Once authenticated, the entire session of such a network application isencrypted. However, in this scenario, an administrator may not havevisibility, analytics, or control of the content entering the networkapplication from the user's digital workspace, or the content leavingthe network application and entering the user's digital workspace.Moreover, content of a network application viewed in a generic browsercan be copied or downloaded (e.g., by a user or program) to potentiallyany arbitrary application or device, resulting in a possible breach indata security.

This present systems and methods can ensure that traffic associated witha network application is channeled through a CEB. By way ofillustration, when a user accesses a SaaS web service with securityassertion markup language (SAML) enabled for instance, the correspondingaccess request can be forwarded to a designated gateway service thatdetermines, checks or verifies if the CEB was used to make the accessrequest. Responsive to determining that a CEB was used to make theaccess request, the gateway service can perform or provideauthentication and single-sign-on (SSO), and can allow the CEB toconnect directly to the SaaS web service. Encryption (e.g., standardencryption) can be used for the application session between the CEB andthe SaaS web service. When the content from the web service isunencrypted in the CEB to the viewed via the embedded browser, and/orwhen input is entered via the CEB, the CEB can provide added services onselective application-related information for control and analytics forinstance. For example, an analytics agent or application programminginterface (API) can be embedded in the CEB to provide or perform theadded services.

The CEB (sometimes referred to as workspace application or receiver) caninteroperate with one or more gateway services, intermediaries and/ornetwork servers (sometimes collectively referred to as cloud services orCitrix Cloud) to provide access to a network application. Features andelements of an environment related to the operation of an embodiment ofcloud services are described below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of cloud services for use in accessingresources including network applications. The cloud services can includean enterprise mobility technical architecture 200, which can include anaccess gateway 260 in one illustrative embodiment. The architecture canbe used in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) environment for instance. Thearchitecture can enable a user of a client device 204 (e.g., a mobile orother device) to both access enterprise or personal resources from aclient device 202, and use the client device 204 for personal use. Theuser may access such enterprise resources 204 or enterprise services 208via a client application executing on the client device 204. The usermay access such enterprise resources 204 or enterprise services 208using a client device 204 that is purchased by the user or a clientdevice 202 that is provided by the enterprise to user. The user mayutilize the client device 202 for business use only or for business andpersonal use. The client device may run an iOS operating system, andAndroid operating system, or the like. The enterprise may choose toimplement policies to manage the client device 204. The policies may beimplanted through a firewall or gateway in such a way that the clientdevice may be identified, secured or security verified, and providedselective or full access to the enterprise resources. The policies maybe client device management policies, mobile application managementpolicies, mobile data management policies, or some combination of clientdevice, application, and data management policies. A client device 204that is managed through the application of client device managementpolicies may be referred to as an enrolled device. The client devicemanagement policies can be applied via the client application forinstance.

In some embodiments, the operating system of the client device may beseparated into a managed partition 210 and an unmanaged partition 212.The managed partition 210 may have policies applied to it to secure theapplications running on and data stored in the managed partition. Theapplications running on the managed partition may be secureapplications. In other embodiments, all applications may execute inaccordance with a set of one or more policy files received separate fromthe application, and which define one or more security parameters,features, resource restrictions, and/or other access controls that areenforced by the client device management system when that application isexecuting on the device. By operating in accordance with theirrespective policy file(s), each application may be allowed or restrictedfrom communications with one or more other applications and/orresources, thereby creating a virtual partition. Thus, as used herein, apartition may refer to a physically partitioned portion of memory(physical partition), a logically partitioned portion of memory (logicalpartition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result ofenforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across multipleapps as described herein (virtual partition). Stated differently, byenforcing policies on managed apps, those apps may be restricted to onlybe able to communicate with other managed apps and trusted enterpriseresources, thereby creating a virtual partition that is not accessibleby unmanaged apps and devices.

The secure applications may be email applications, web browsingapplications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, WindowsApplication access applications, and the like. The client applicationcan include a secure application launcher 218. The secure applicationsmay be secure native applications 214, secure remote applications 222executed by the secure application launcher 218, virtualizationapplications 226 executed by the secure application launcher 218, andthe like. The secure native applications 214 may be wrapped by a secureapplication wrapper 220. The secure application wrapper 220 may includeintegrated policies that are executed on the client device 202 when thesecure native application is executed on the device. The secureapplication wrapper 220 may include meta-data that points the securenative application 214 running on the client device 202 to the resourceshosted at the enterprise that the secure native application 214 mayrequire to complete the task requested upon execution of the securenative application 214. The secure remote applications 222 executed by asecure application launcher 218 may be executed within the secureapplication launcher application 218. The virtualization applications226 executed by a secure application launcher 218 may utilize resourceson the client device 202, at the enterprise resources 204, and the like.The resources used on the client device 202 by the virtualizationapplications 226 executed by a secure application launcher 218 mayinclude user interaction resources, processing resources, and the like.The user interaction resources may be used to collect and transmitkeyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input,visual input, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources maybe used to present a user interface, process data received from theenterprise resources 204, and the like. The resources used at theenterprise resources 204 by the virtualization applications 226 executedby a secure application launcher 218 may include user interfacegeneration resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinterface generation resources may be used to assemble a user interface,modify a user interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. Theprocessing resources may be used to create information, readinformation, update information, delete information, and the like. Forexample, the virtualization application may record user interactionsassociated with a graphical user interface (GUI) and communicate them toa server application where the server application may use the userinteraction data as an input to the application operating on the server.In this arrangement, an enterprise may elect to maintain the applicationon the server side as well as data, files, etc., associated with theapplication. While an enterprise may elect to “mobilize” someapplications in accordance with the principles herein by securing themfor deployment on the client device (e.g., via the client application),this arrangement may also be elected for certain applications. Forexample, while some applications may be secured for use on the clientdevice, others might not be prepared or appropriate for deployment onthe client device so the enterprise may elect to provide the mobile useraccess to the unprepared applications through virtualization techniques.As another example, the enterprise may have large complex applicationswith large and complex data sets (e.g., material resource planningapplications) where it would be very difficult, or otherwiseundesirable, to customize the application for the client device so theenterprise may elect to provide access to the application throughvirtualization techniques. As yet another example, the enterprise mayhave an application that maintains highly secured data (e.g., humanresources data, customer data, engineering data) that may be deemed bythe enterprise as too sensitive for even the secured mobile environmentso the enterprise may elect to use virtualization techniques to permitmobile access to such applications and data. An enterprise may elect toprovide both fully secured and fully functional applications on theclient device. The enterprise can use a client application, which caninclude a virtualization application, to allow access to applicationsthat are deemed more properly operated on the server side. In anembodiment, the virtualization application may store some data, files,etc., on the mobile phone in one of the secure storage locations. Anenterprise, for example, may elect to allow certain information to bestored on the phone while not permitting other information.

In connection with the virtualization application, as described herein,the client device may have a virtualization application that is designedto present GUIs and then record user interactions with the GUI. Thevirtualization application may communicate the user interactions to theserver side to be used by the server side application as userinteractions with the application. In response, the application on theserver side may transmit back to the client device a new GUI. Forexample, the new GUI may be a static page, a dynamic page, an animation,or the like, thereby providing access to remotely located resources.

The secure applications may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 228 in the managed partition 210 of the client device. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securewrapped applications 214, applications executed by a secure applicationlauncher 222, virtualization applications 226 executed by a secureapplication launcher 218, and the like. The data stored in the securedata container 228 may include files, databases, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 228 may include data restricted to aspecific secure application 230, shared among secure applications 232,and the like. Data restricted to a secure application may include securegeneral data 234 and highly secure data 238. Secure general data may usea strong form of encryption such as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)128-bit encryption or the like, while highly secure data 238 may use avery strong form of encryption such as AES 256-bit encryption. Datastored in the secure data container 228 may be deleted from the deviceupon receipt of a command from the device manager 224. The secureapplications may have a dual-mode option 240. The dual mode option 240may present the user with an option to operate the secured applicationin an unsecured or unmanaged mode. In an unsecured or unmanaged mode,the secure applications may access data stored in an unsecured datacontainer 242 on the unmanaged partition 212 of the client device 202.The data stored in an unsecured data container may be personal data 244.The data stored in an unsecured data container 242 may also be accessedby unsecured applications 248 that are running on the unmanagedpartition 212 of the client device 202. The data stored in an unsecureddata container 242 may remain on the client device 202 when the datastored in the secure data container 228 is deleted from the clientdevice 202. An enterprise may want to delete from the client deviceselected or all data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed orcontrolled by the enterprise (enterprise data) while leaving orotherwise preserving personal data, files, and/or applications owned,licensed or controlled by the user (personal data). This operation maybe referred to as a selective wipe. With the enterprise and personaldata arranged in accordance to the aspects described herein, anenterprise may perform a selective wipe.

The client device 202 may connect to enterprise resources 204 andenterprise services 208 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 248,and the like. The client device may connect to enterprise resources 204and enterprise services 208 through virtual private network connections.The virtual private network connections, also referred to as microVPN orapplication-specific VPN, may be specific to particular applications(e.g., as illustrated by microVPNs 250), particular devices, particularsecured areas on the client device (e.g., as illustrated by O/S VPN252), and the like. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the phone may access enterprise resources through anapplication specific VPN such that access to the VPN would be grantedbased on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, applicationmanagement traffic, and the like. The virtual private networkconnections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 254. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 258. The authentication service 258 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 204, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 204.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 260. The access gateway 260 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 204 to the client device 202. The access gatewaymay also re-route traffic from the client device 202 to the publicInternet 248, enabling the client device 202 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet248. The client device may connect to the access gateway via a transportnetwork 262. The transport network 262 may use one or more transportprotocols and may be a wired network, wireless network, cloud network,local area network, metropolitan area network, wide area network, publicnetwork, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 204 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS/Web applications, Web application servers, Windowsapplication servers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchangeservers, Lotus Notes servers, and the like. File sharing servers mayinclude ShareFile servers, and the like. SaaS applications may includeSalesforce, and the like. Windows application servers may include anyapplication server that is built to provide applications that areintended to run on a local Windows operating system, and the like. Theenterprise resources 204 may be premise-based resources, cloud basedresources, and the like. The enterprise resources 204 may be accessed bythe client device 202 directly or through the access gateway 260. Theenterprise resources 204 may be accessed by the client device 202 via atransport network 262. The transport network 262 may be a wired network,wireless network, cloud network, local area network, metropolitan areanetwork, wide area network, public network, private network, and thelike.

Cloud services can include an access gateway 260 and/or enterpriseservices 208. The enterprise services 208 may include authenticationservices 258, threat detection services 264, device manager services224, file sharing services 268, policy manager services 270, socialintegration services 272, application controller services 274, and thelike. Authentication services 258 may include user authenticationservices, device authentication services, application authenticationservices, data authentication services and the like. Authenticationservices 258 may use certificates. The certificates may be stored on theclient device 202, by the enterprise resources 204, and the like. Thecertificates stored on the client device 202 may be stored in anencrypted location on the client device, the certificate may betemporarily stored on the client device 202 for use at the time ofauthentication, and the like. Threat detection services 264 may includeintrusion detection services, unauthorized access attempt detectionservices, and the like. Unauthorized access attempt detection servicesmay include unauthorized attempts to access devices, applications, data,and the like. Device management services 224 may include configuration,provisioning, security, support, monitoring, reporting, anddecommissioning services. File sharing services 268 may include filemanagement services, file storage services, file collaboration services,and the like. Policy manager services 270 may include device policymanager services, application policy manager services, data policymanager services, and the like. Social integration services 272 mayinclude contact integration services, collaboration services,integration with social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, andLinkedIn, and the like. Application controller services 274 may includemanagement services, provisioning services, deployment services,assignment services, revocation services, wrapping services, and thelike.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 200 may include anapplication store 278. The application store 278 may include unwrappedapplications 280, pre-wrapped applications 282, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 278 from theapplication controller 274. The application store 278 may be accessed bythe client device 202 through the access gateway 260, through the publicInternet 248, or the like. The application store may be provided with anintuitive and easy to use User Interface.

A software development kit 284 may provide a user the capability tosecure applications selected by the user by providing a secure wrapperaround the application. An application that has been wrapped using thesoftware development kit 284 may then be made available to the clientdevice 202 by populating it in the application store 278 using theapplication controller 274.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 200 may include amanagement and analytics capability. The management and analyticscapability may provide information related to how resources are used,how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 3 depicts is an illustrative embodiment of an enterprise mobilitymanagement system 300. Some of the components of the mobility managementsystem 200 described above with reference to FIG. 2 have been omittedfor the sake of simplicity. The architecture of the system 300 depictedin FIG. 3 is similar in many respects to the architecture of the system200 described above with reference to FIG. 2 and may include additionalfeatures not mentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled client device302 with a client agent 304, which interacts with gateway server 306 toaccess various enterprise resources 308 and services 309 such as Web orSasS applications, Exchange, Sharepoint, public-key infrastructure (PKI)Resources, Kerberos Resources, Certificate Issuance service, as shown onthe right hand side above. The gateway server 306 can includeembodiments of features and functionalities of the cloud services, suchas access gateway 260 and application controller functionality. Althoughnot specifically shown, the client agent 304 may be part of, and/orinteract with the client application which can operate as an enterpriseapplication store (storefront) for the selection and/or downloading ofnetwork applications.

The client agent 304 can act as a UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the High-Definition User Experience (HDX) or IndependentComputing Architecture (ICA) display remoting protocol. The client agent304 can also support the installation and management of nativeapplications on the client device 302, such as native iOS or Androidapplications. For example, the managed applications 310 (mail, browser,wrapped application) shown in the figure above are native applicationsthat execute locally on the device. Client agent 304 and applicationmanagement framework of this architecture act to provide policy drivenmanagement capabilities and features such as connectivity and SSO(single sign on) to enterprise resources/services 308. The client agent304 handles primary user authentication to the enterprise, for instanceto access gateway (AG) with SSO to other gateway server components. Theclient agent 304 obtains policies from gateway server 306 to control thebehavior of the managed applications 310 on the client device 302.

The Secure interprocess communication (IPC) links 312 between the nativeapplications 310 and client agent 304 represent a management channel,which allows client agent to supply policies to be enforced by theapplication management framework 314 “wrapping” each application. TheIPC channel 312 also allows client agent 304 to supply credential andauthentication information that enables connectivity and SSO toenterprise resources 308. Finally the IPC channel 312 allows theapplication management framework 314 to invoke user interface functionsimplemented by client agent 304, such as online and offlineauthentication.

Communications between the client agent 304 and gateway server 306 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the applicationmanagement framework 314 wrapping each native managed application 310.The application management framework 314 requests policy informationfrom client agent 304, which in turn requests it from gateway server306. The application management framework 314 requests authentication,and client agent 304 logs into the gateway services part of gatewayserver 306 (also known as NetScaler access gateway). Client agent 304may also call supporting services on gateway server 306, which mayproduce input material to derive encryption keys for the local datavaults 316, or provide client certificates which may enable directauthentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explainedbelow.

In more detail, the application management framework 314 “wraps” eachmanaged application 310. This may be incorporated via an explicit buildstep, or via a post-build processing step. The application managementframework 314 may “pair” with client agent 304 on first launch of anapplication 310 to initialize the Secure IPC channel and obtain thepolicy for that application. The application management framework 314may enforce relevant portions of the policy that apply locally, such asthe client agent login dependencies and some of the containment policiesthat restrict how local OS services may be used, or how they mayinteract with the application 310.

The application management framework 314 may use services provided byclient agent 304 over the Secure IPC channel 312 to facilitateauthentication and internal network access. Key management for theprivate and shared data vaults 316 (containers) may be also managed byappropriate interactions between the managed applications 310 and clientagent 304. Vaults 316 may be available only after online authentication,or may be made available after offline authentication if allowed bypolicy. First use of vaults 316 may require online authentication, andoffline access may be limited to at most the policy refresh periodbefore online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 310 through access gateway 306. The applicationmanagement framework 314 is responsible for orchestrating the networkaccess on behalf of each application 310. Client agent 304 mayfacilitate these network connections by providing suitable time limitedsecondary credentials obtained following online authentication. Multiplemodes of network connection may be used, such as reverse web proxyconnections and end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 318.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 310 can have special statusand may make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application mayuse a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess Exchange over an extended period of time without requiring a fullAG logon. The Browser application may use multiple private data vaultsto segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture can support the incorporation of various othersecurity features. For example, gateway server 306 (including itsgateway services) in some cases might not need to validate activedirectory (AD) passwords. It can be left to the discretion of anenterprise whether an AD password is used as an authentication factorfor some users in some situations. Different authentication methods maybe used if a user is online or offline (i.e., connected or not connectedto a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server 306 mayidentify managed native applications 310 that are allowed to have accessto more sensitive data using strong authentication, and ensure thataccess to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequested from the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 316 (containers) on the client device 302. The vaults 316 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including clipboard/cache data,files, databases, and configurations are protected. For on-line vaults,the keys may be stored on the server (gateway server 306), and foroff-line vaults, a local copy of the keys may be protected by a userpassword or biometric validation. When data is stored locally on thedevice 302 in the secure container 316, it is preferred that a minimumof AES 256 encryption algorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein all security events happeninginside an application 310 are logged and reported to the backend. Datawiping may be supported, such as if the application 310 detectstampering, associated encryption keys may be written over with randomdata, leaving no hint on the file system that user data was destroyed.Screenshot protection is another feature, where an application mayprevent any data from being stored in screenshots. For example, the keywindow's hidden property may be set to YES. This may cause whatevercontent is currently displayed on the screen to be hidden, resulting ina blank screenshot where any content would normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the device isgenerated using a passphrase or biometric data supplied by the user (ifoffline access is required). It may be XORed with another key randomlygenerated and stored on the server side if offline access is notrequired. Key Derivation functions may operate such that keys generatedfrom the user password use KDFs (key derivation functions, notablyPassword-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)) rather than creatinga cryptographic hash of it. The latter makes a key susceptible to bruteforce or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector might cause multiple copies of thesame encrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventingboth replay and cryptanalytic attacks. This may also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key. Further,authentication then decryption may be used, wherein application data isdecrypted only after the user has authenticated within the application.Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory, which may bekept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. For example,login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, and encryptionkeys and other data inside objective-C instance variables are notstored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented via the CEB, wherein after apolicy-defined period of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the application management framework 314 may beprevented in other ways. For example, when an application 310 is put inthe background, the memory may be cleared after a predetermined(configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a snapshot may be takenof the last displayed screen of the application to fasten theforegrounding process. The screenshot may contain confidential data andhence should be cleared.

Another security feature relates to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 320 without the use of an AD (active directory) 322 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 320 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text is sent to the user with an OTP 320. In some cases, thismay be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being a singlefield.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose applications 310 for which offline use is permitted via enterprisepolicy. For example, an enterprise may want storefront to be accessed inthis manner. In this case, the client agent 304 may require the user toset a custom offline password and the AD password is not used. Gatewayserver 306 may provide policies to control and enforce passwordstandards with respect to the minimum length, character classcomposition, and age of passwords, such as described by the standardWindows Server password complexity requirements, although theserequirements may be modified.

Another feature relates to the enablement of a client side certificatefor certain applications 310 as secondary credentials (for the purposeof accessing PKI protected web resources via the application managementframework micro VPN feature). For example, an application may utilizesuch a certificate. In this case, certificate-based authentication usingActiveSync protocol may be supported, wherein a certificate from theclient agent 304 may be retrieved by gateway server 306 and used in akeychain. Each managed application may have one associated clientcertificate, identified by a label that is defined in gateway server306.

Gateway server 306 may interact with an Enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The client agent 304 and the application management framework 314 may beenhanced to support obtaining and using client certificates forauthentication to internal PKI protected network resources. More thanone certificate may be supported, such as to match various levels ofsecurity and/or separation requirements. The certificates may be used bythe Mail and Browser managed applications, and ultimately by arbitrarywrapped applications (provided those applications use web service stylecommunication patterns where it is reasonable for the applicationmanagement framework to mediate https requests).

Application management client certificate support on iOS may rely onimporting a public-key cryptography standards (PKCS) 12 BLOB (BinaryLarge Object) into the iOS keychain in each managed application for eachperiod of use. Application management framework client certificatesupport may use a HTTPS implementation with private in-memory keystorage. The client certificate might never be present in the iOSkeychain and might not be persisted except potentially in “online-only”data value that is strongly protected.

Mutual SSL or TLS may also be implemented to provide additional securityby requiring that a client device 302 is authenticated to theenterprise, and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication togateway server 306 may also be implemented.

Both limited and full Kerberos support may be additional features. Thefull support feature relates to an ability to do full Kerberos login toActive Directory (AD) 322, using an AD password or trusted clientcertificate, and obtain Kerberos service tickets to respond to HTTPNegotiate authentication challenges. The limited support feature relatesto constrained delegation in Citrix Access Gateway Enterprise Edition(AGEE), where AGEE supports invoking Kerberos protocol transition so itcan obtain and use Kerberos service tickets (subject to constraineddelegation) in response to HTTP Negotiate authentication challenges.This mechanism works in reverse web proxy (aka corporate virtual privatenetwork (CVPN)) mode, and when http (but not https) connections areproxied in VPN and MicroVPN mode.

Another feature relates to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when an application 310 is not running.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of enterprise applicationstore and an application controller may be supported that allows usersto be service from one of several different locations in case offailure.

In some cases, managed applications 310 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (example OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 310 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as when an application behaves like a browser and nocertificate access is used, when an application reads a certificate for“who am I,” when an application uses the certificate to build a securesession token, and when an application uses private keys for digitalsigning of important data (e.g., transaction log) or for temporary dataencryption.

Referring now to FIG. 4, depicted is a block diagram of a system 400 ofan embedded browser. In brief overview, the system 400 may include aclient device 402 with a digital workspace for a user, a clientapplication 404, cloud services 408 operating on at least one networkdevice 432, and network applications 406 served from and/or hosted onone or more servers 430. The client application 404 can for instanceinclude at least one of: an embedded browser 410, a networking agent412, a cloud services agent 414, a remote session agent 416, or a securecontainer 418. The cloud services 408 can for instance include at leastone of: secure browser(s) 420, an access gateway 422 (or CIS, e.g., forregistering and/or authenticating the client application and/or user),or analytics services 424 (or CAS, e.g., for receiving information fromthe client application for analytics). The network applications 406 caninclude sanctioned applications 426 and non-sanctioned applications 428.

Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is implemented inhardware, or a combination of hardware and software, in one or moreembodiments. Each component of the system 400 may be implemented usinghardware or a combination of hardware or software detailed above inconnection with FIG. 1. For instance, each of these elements or entitiescan include any application, program, library, script, task, service,process or any type and form of executable instructions executing onhardware of the client device 402, the at least one network device 432and/or the one or more servers 430. The hardware includes circuitry suchas one or more processors in one or more embodiments. For example, theat least one network device 432 and/or the one or more servers 430 caninclude any of the elements of a computing device described above inconnection with at least FIG. 1 for instance.

The client device 402 can include any embodiment of a computing devicedescribed above in connection with at least FIG. 1 for instance. Theclient device 402 can include any user device such as a desktopcomputer, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a smart phone, or anyother mobile or personal device. The client device 402 can include adigital workspace of a user, which can include file system(s), cache ormemory (e.g., including electronic clipboard(s)), container(s),application(s) and/or other resources on the client device 402. Thedigital workspace can include or extend to one or more networksaccessible by the client device 402, such as an intranet and theInternet, including file system(s) and/or other resources accessible viathe one or more networks. A portion of the digital workspace can besecured via the use of the client application 404 with embedded browser410 (CEB) for instance. The secure portion of the digital workspace caninclude for instance file system(s), cache or memory (e.g., includingelectronic clipboard(s)), application(s), container(s) and/or otherresources allocated to the CEB, and/or allocated by the CEB to networkapplication(s) 406 accessed via the CEB. The secure portion of thedigital workspace can also include resources specified by the CEB (viaone or more policies) for inclusion in the secure portion of the digitalworkspace (e.g., a particular local application can be specified via apolicy to be allowed to receive data obtained from a networkapplication).

The client application 404 can include one or more components, such asan embedded browser 410, a networking agent 412, a cloud services agent414 (sometimes referred to as management agent), a remote session agent416 (sometimes referred to as HDX engine), and/or a secure container 418(sometimes referred to as secure cache container). One or more of thecomponents can be installed as part of a software build or release ofthe client application 404 or CEB, or separately acquired or downloadedand installed/integrated into an existing installation of the clientapplication 404 or CEB for instance. For instance, the client device maydownload or otherwise receive the client application 404 (or anycomponent) from the network device(s) 432. In some embodiments, theclient device may send a request for the client application 404 to thenetwork device(s) 432. For example, a user of the client device caninitiate a request, download and/or installation of the clientapplication. The network device(s) 432 in turn may send the clientapplication to the client device. In some embodiments, the networkdevice(s) 432 may send a setup or installation application for theclient application to the client device. Upon receipt, the client devicemay install the client application onto a hard disk of the clientdevice. In some embodiments, the client device may run the setupapplication to unpack or decompress a package of the client application.In some embodiments, the client application may be an extension (e.g.,an add-on, an add-in, an applet or a plug-in) to another application(e.g., a networking agent 412) installed on the client device. Theclient device may install the client application to interface orinter-operate with the pre-installed application. In some embodiments,the client application may be a standalone application. The clientdevice may install the client application to execute as a separateprocess.

The embedded browser 410 can include elements and functionalities of aweb browser application or engine. The embedded browser 410 can locallyrender network application(s) as a component or extension of the clientapplication. For instance, the embedded browser 410 can render aSaaS/Web application inside the CEB which can provide the CEB with fullvisibility and control of the application session. The embedded browsercan be embedded or incorporated into the client application via anymeans, such as direct integration (e.g., programming language or scriptinsertion) into the executable code of the client application, or viaplugin installation. For example, the embedded browser can include aChromium based browser engine or other type of browser engine, that canbe embedded into the client application, using the Chromium embeddedframework (CEF) for instance. The embedded browser can include aHTML5-based layout graphical user interface (GUI). The embedded browsercan provide HTML rendering and JavaScript support to a clientapplication incorporating various programming languages. For example,elements of the embedded browser can bind to a client applicationincorporating C, C++, Delphi, Go, Java, .NET/Mono, Visual Basic 6.0,and/or Python.

In some embodiments, the embedded browser comprises a plug-in installedon the client application. For example, the plug-in can include one ormore components. One such components can be an ActiveX control or Javacontrol or any other type and/or form of executable instructions capableof loading into and executing in the client application. For example,the client application can load and run an Active X control of theembedded browser, such as in a memory space or context of the clientapplication. In some embodiments, the embedded browser can be installedas an extension on the client application, and a user can choose toenable or disable the plugin or extension. The embedded browser (e.g.,via the plugin or extension) can form or operate as a secured browserfor securing, using and/or accessing resources within the securedportion of the digital workspace.

The embedded browser can incorporate code and functionalities beyondthat available or possible in a standard or typical browser. Forinstance, the embedded browser can bind with or be assigned with asecured container 418, to define at least part of the secured portion ofa user's digital workspace. The embedded browser can bind with or beassigned with a portion of the client device's cache to form a securedclipboard (e.g., local to the client device, or extendable to otherdevices), that can be at least part of the secured container 418. Theembedded browser can be integrated with the client application to ensurethat traffic related to network applications is routed through and/orprocessed in the client application, which can provide the clientapplication with real-time visibility to the traffic (e.g., whendecrypted through the client application). This visibility to thetraffic can allow the client application to perform or facilitatepolicy-based management (e.g., including data loss prevention (DLP)capabilities), application control, and collection and production ofanalytics.

In some embodiments, the embedded browser incorporates one or more othercomponents of the client application 404, such as the cloud servicesagent 414, remote session agent 416 and/or secure container 418. Forinstance, a user can use the cloud services agent 414 of the embeddedbrowser to interoperate with the access gateway 422 (sometimes referredto as CIS) to access a network application. For example, the cloudservices agent 414 can execute within the embedded browser, and canreceive and transmit navigation commands from the embedded browser to ahosted network application. The cloud services agent can use a remotepresentation protocol to display the output generated by the networkapplication to the embedded browser. For example, the cloud servicesagent 414 can include a HTML5 web client that allows end users to accessremote desktops and/or applications on the embedded browser.

The client application 404 and CEB operate on the application layer ofthe operational (OSI) stack of the client device. The client application404 can include and/or execute one or more agents that interoperate withthe cloud services 408. The client application 404 can receive, obtain,retrieve or otherwise access various policies (e.g., an enterprise'scustom, specified or internal policies or rules) and/or data (e.g., froman access gateway 422 and/or network device(s) of cloud services 408, orother server(s), that may be managed by the enterprise). The clientapplication can access the policies and/or data to control and/or managea network application (e.g., a SaaS, web or remote-hosted application).Control and/or management of a network application can include controland/or management of various aspects of the network application, such asaccess control, session delivery, available features or functions,service level, traffic management and monitoring, and so on. The networkapplication can be from a provider or vendor of the enterprise (e.g.,salesforce.com, SAP, Microsoft Office 365), from the enterprise itself,or from another entity (e.g., Dropbox or Gmail service).

For example, the cloud services agent 414 can provide policy drivenmanagement capabilities and features related to the use and/or access ofnetwork applications. For example, the cloud services agent 414 caninclude a policy engine to apply one or more policies (e.g., receivedfrom cloud services) to determine access control and/or connectivity toresources such as network applications. When a session is establishedbetween the client application and a server 430 providing a SaaSapplication for instance, the cloud services agent 414 can apply one ormore policies to control traffic levels and/or traffic types (or otheraspects) of the session, for instance to manage a service level of theSaaS application. Additional aspects of the application traffic that canbe controlled or managed can include encryption level and/or encryptiontype applied to the traffic, level of interactivity allowed for a user,limited access to certain features of the network application (e.g.,print-screen, save, edit or copy functions), restrictions to use ortransfer of data obtained from the network application, limit concurrentaccess to two or more network applications, limit access to certain filerepositories or other resources, and so on.

The cloud services agent 414 can convey or feed information to analyticsservices 424 of the cloud services 408, such as information about SaaSinteraction events visible to the CEB. Such a configuration using theCEB can monitor or capture information for analytics without having aninline device or proxy located between the client device and theserver(s) 430, or using a SaaS API gateway ‘out-of-band’ approach. Insome embodiments, the cloud services agent 414 does not execute withinthe embedded browser. In these embodiments, a user can similarly use thecloud services agent 414 to interoperate with the access gateway (orCIS) 422 to access a network application. For instance, the cloudservices agent 414 can register and/or authenticate with the accessgateway (or CIS) 422, and can obtain a list of the network applicationsfrom the access gateway (or CIS) 422. The cloud services agent 414 caninclude and/or operate as an application store (or storefront) for userselection and/or downloading of network applications. Upon logging in toaccess a network application, the cloud services agent 414 can interceptand transmit navigation commands from the embedded browser to thenetwork application. The cloud services agent can use a remotepresentation protocol to display the output generated by the networkapplication to the embedded browser. For example, the cloud servicesagent 414 can include a HTML5 web client that allows end users to accessremote desktops and/or applications on the embedded browser.

In some embodiments, the cloud services agent 414 provides single signon (SSO) capability for the user and/or client device to access aplurality of network applications. The cloud services agent 414 canperform user authentication to access network applications as well asother network resources and services, by communicating with the accessgateway 422 for instance. For example, the cloud services agent 414 canauthenticate or register with the access gateway 422, to access othercomponents of the cloud services 408 and/or the network applications406. Responsive to the authentication or registration, the accessgateway 422 can perform authentication and/or SSO for (or on behalf of)the user and/or client application, with the network applications.

The client application 404 can include a networking agent 412. Thenetworking agent 412 is sometimes referred to as a software-defined widearea network (SD-WAN) agent, mVPN agent, or microVPN agent. Thenetworking agent 412 can establish or facilitate establishment of anetwork connection between the client application and one or moreresources (e.g., server 430 serving a network application). Thenetworking agent 412 can perform handshaking for a requested connectionfrom the client application to access a network application, and canestablish the requested connection (e.g., secure or encryptedconnection). The networking agent 412 can connect to enterpriseresources (including services) for instance via a virtual privatenetwork (VPN). For example, the networking agent 412 can establish asecure socket layer (SSL) VPN between the client application and aserver 430 providing the network application 406. The VPN connections,sometimes referred to as microVPN or application-specific VPN, may bespecific to particular network applications, particular devices,particular secured areas on the client device, and the like, forinstance as discussed above in connection with FIG. 3. Such VPNconnections can carry Microsoft Exchange traffic, Microsoft ActiveDirectory traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) traffic, HyperTextTransfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, as some examples.

The remote session agent 416 (sometimes referred to as HDX engine) caninclude features of the client agent 304 discussed above in connectionwith FIG. 2 for instance, to support display a remoting protocol (e.g.,HDX or ICA). In some embodiments, the remote session agent 416 canestablish a remote desktop session and/or remote application session inaccordance to any variety of protocols, such as the Remote DesktopProtocol (RDP), Appliance Link Protocol (ALP), Remote Frame Buffer (RFB)Protocol, and ICA Protocol. For example, the remote session agent 416can establish a remote application session for a user of the clientdevice to access an enterprise network application. The remote sessionagent 416 can establish the remote application session within or over asecure connection (e.g., a VPN) established by the networking agent 412for instance.

The client application or CEB can include or be associated with a securecontainer 418. A secure container can include a logical or virtualdelineation of one or more types of resources accessible within theclient device and/or accessible by the client device. For example, thesecure container 418 can refer to the entirety of the secured portion ofthe digital workspace, or particular aspect(s) of the secured portion.In some embodiments, the secure container 418 corresponds to a securecache (e.g., electronic or virtual clipboard), and can dynamicallyincorporate a portion of a local cache of each client device of a user,and/or a cloud-based cache of the user, that is protected or secured(e.g., encrypted). The secure container can define a portion of filesystem(s), and/or delineate resources allocated to a CEB and/or tonetwork applications accessed via the CEB. The secure container caninclude elements of the secure data container 228 discussed above inconnection with FIG. 2 for example. The CEB can be configured (e.g., viapolicies) to limit, disallow or disable certain actions or activities onresources and/or data identified to be within a secure container. Asecured container can be defined to specify that the resources and/ordata within the secure container are to be monitored for misuse, abuseand/or exfiltration.

In certain embodiments, a secure container relates to or involves theuse of a secure browser (e.g., embedded browser 410 or secure browser420) that implements various enterprise security features. Networkapplications (or web pages accessed by the secure browser) that areconfigured to run within the secure browser can effectively inherit thesecurity mechanisms implemented by the secure browser. These networkapplications can be considered to be contained within the securecontainer. The use of such a secure browser can enable an enterprise toimplement a content filtering policy in which, for example, employeesare blocked from accessing certain web sites from their client devices.The secure browser can be used, for example, to enable client deviceusers to access a corporate intranet without the need for a VPN.

In some embodiments, a secure container can support various types ofremedial actions for protecting enterprise resources. One such remedy isto lock the client device, or a secure container on the client devicethat stores data to be protected, such that the client device or securecontainer can only be unlocked with a valid code provided by anadministrator for instance. In some embodiments, these and other typesof remedies can be invoked automatically based on conditions detected onthe client device (via the application of policies for instance), or canbe remotely initiated by an administrator.

In some embodiments, a secure container can include a secure documentcontainer for documents. A document can comprise any computer-readablefile including text, audio, video, and/or other types of information ormedia. A document can comprise any single one or combination of thesemedia types. As explained herein, the secure container can help preventthe spread of enterprise information to different applications andcomponents of the client device, as well as to other devices. Theenterprise system (which can be partially or entirely within a cloudnetwork) can transmit documents to various devices, which can be storedwithin the secure container. The secure container can preventunauthorized applications and other components of the client device fromaccessing information within the secure container. For enterprises thatallow users to use their own client devices for accessing, storing, andusing enterprise data, providing secure container on the client deviceshelps to secure the enterprise data. For instance, providing securecontainers on the client devices can centralize enterprise data in onelocation on each client device, and can facilitate selective or completedeletion of enterprise data from each client device when desired.

The secure container can include an application that implements a filesystem that stores documents and/or other types of files. The filesystem can comprise a portion of a computer-readable memory of theclient device. The file system can be logically separated from otherportions of the computer-readable memory of the client device. In thisway, enterprise data can be stored in a secure container and privatedata can be stored in a separate portion of the computer-readable memoryof the client device for instance. The secure container can allow theCEB, network applications accessed via the CEB, locally installedapplications and/or other components of the client device to read from,write to, and/or delete information from the file system (if authorizedto do so). Deleting data from the secure container can include deletingactual data stored in the secure container, deleting pointers to datastored in the secure container, deleting encryption keys used to decryptdata stored in the secure container, and the like. The secure containercan be installed by, e.g., the client application, an administrator, orthe client device manufacturer. The secure container can enable some orall of the enterprise data stored in the file system to be deletedwithout modifying private data stored on the client device outside ofthe secure container. The file system can facilitate selective orcomplete deletion of data from the file system. For example, anauthorized component of the enterprise's system can delete data from thefile system based on, e.g., encoded rules. In some embodiments, theclient application can delete the data from the file system, in responseto receiving a deletion command from the enterprise's system.

The secure container can include an access manager that governs accessto the file system by applications and other components of the clientdevice. Access to the file system can be governed based on documentaccess policies (e.g., encoded rules) maintained by the clientapplication, in the documents and/or in the file system. A documentaccess policy can limit access to the file system based on (1) whichapplication or other component of the client device is requestingaccess, (2) which documents are being requested, (3) time or date, (4)geographical position of the client device, (5) whether the requestingapplication or other component provides a correct certificate orcredentials, (6) whether the user of the client device provides correctcredentials, (7) other conditions, or any combination thereof. A user'scredentials can comprise, for example, a password, one or more answersto security questions (e.g., What is the mascot of your high school?),biometric information (e.g., fingerprint scan, eye-scan), and the like.Hence, by using the access manager, the secure container can beconfigured to be accessed only by applications that are authorized toaccess the secure container. As one example, the access manager canenable enterprise applications installed on the client device to accessdata stored in the secure container and to prevent non-enterpriseapplications from accessing the data stored in the secure container.

Temporal and geographic restrictions on document access may be useful.For example, an administrator may deploy a document access policy thatrestricts the availability of the documents (stored within the securecontainer) to a specified time window and/or a geographic zone (e.g., asdetermined by a GPS chip) within which the client device must reside inorder to access the documents. Further, the document access policy caninstruct the secure container or client application to delete thedocuments from the secure container or otherwise make them unavailablewhen the specified time period expires or if the client device is takenoutside of the defined geographic zone.

Some documents can have access policies that forbid the document frombeing saved within the secure container. In such embodiments, thedocument can be available for viewing on the client device only when theuser is logged in or authenticated via the cloud services for example.

The access manager can also be configured to enforce certain modes ofconnectivity between remote devices (e.g., an enterprise resource orother enterprise server) and the secure container. For example, theaccess manager can require that documents received by the securecontainer from a remote device and/or sent from the secure container tothe remote device be transmitted through secured tunnels/connections,for example. The access manager can require that all documentstransmitted to and from the secure container be encrypted. The clientapplication or access manager can be configured to encrypt documentssent from the secure container and decrypt documents sent to the securecontainer. Documents in the secure container can also be stored in anencrypted form.

The secure container can be configured to prevent documents or dataincluded within documents or the secure container from being used byunauthorized applications or components of the client device or otherdevices. For instance, a client device application having authorizationto access documents from the secure container can be programmed toprevent a user from copying a document's data and pasting it intoanother file or application interface, or locally saving the document ordocument data as a new file outside of the secure container. Similarly,the secure container can include a document viewer and/or editor that donot permit such copy/paste and local save operations. Moreover, theaccess manager can be configured to prevent such copy/paste and localsave operations. Further, the secure container and applicationsprogrammed and authorized to access documents from the secure containercan be configured to prevent users from attaching such documents toemails or other forms of communication.

One or more applications (e.g., applications installed on the clientdevice, and/or network applications accessed via the CEB) can beprogrammed or controlled (e.g., via policy-based enforcement) to writeenterprise-related data only into the secure container. For instance, anapplication's source code can be provided with the resource name of thesecure container. Similarly, a remote application (e.g., executing on adevice other than the client device) can be configured to send data ordocuments only to the secure container (as opposed to other componentsor memory locations of the client device). Storing data to the securecontainer can occur automatically, for example, under control of theapplication, the client application, and/or the secure browser. Theclient application can be programmed to encrypt or decrypt documentsstored or to be stored within the secure container. In certainembodiments, the secure container can only be used by applications (onthe client device or a remote device) that are programmed to identifyand use the secure container, and which have authorization to do so.

The network applications 406 can include sanctioned network applications426 and non-sanctioned network applications 428. By way of anon-limiting example, sanctioned network applications 426 can includenetwork applications from Workday, Salesforce, Office 365, SAP, and soon, while non-sanctioned network applications 426 can include networkapplications from Dropbox, Gmail, and so on. For instance, FIG. 4illustrates a case where sanctioned applications 426 are accessed via aCEB. In operation (1), a user instance of a client application 404, thatis installed on client device 402, can register or authenticate with theaccess gateway 422 of cloud services 408. For example, the user canauthenticate the user to the client device and login to the clientdevice 402. The client application can automatically execute, or beactivated by the user. In some embodiments, the user can sign in to theclient application (e.g., by authenticating the user to the clientapplication). In response to the login or sign-in, the clientapplication can register or authenticate the user and/or the clientapplication with the access gateway 422.

In operation (2), in response to the registration or authentication, theaccess gateway 422 can identify or retrieve a list of enumerated networkapplications available or pre-assigned to the user, and can provide thelist to the client application. For example, in response to theregistration or authentication, the access gateway can identify the userand/or retrieve a user profile of the user. According to the identityand/or user profile, the access gateway can determine the list (e.g.,retrieve a stored list of network applications matched with the userprofile and/or the identity of the user). The list can correspond to alist of network applications sanctioned for the user. The access gatewaycan send the list to the client application or embedded browser, whichcan be presented via the client application or embedded browser to theuser (e.g., in a storefront user interface) for selection.

In operation (3), the user can initiate connection to a sanctionednetwork application (e.g., a SaaS application), by selecting from thelist of network applications presented to the user. For example, theuser can click on an icon or other representation of the sanctionednetwork application, displayed via the client application or embeddedbrowser. This user action can trigger the CEB to transmit a connectionor access request to a server that provisions the network application.The request can include a request to the server (e.g., SaaS provider) tocommunicate with the access gateway to authenticate the user. The servercan send a request to the access gateway to authenticate the user forexample.

In operation (4), the access gateway can perform SSO with the server, toauthenticate the user. For example, in response to the server's requestto authenticate the user, the access gateway can provide credentials ofthe user to the server(s) 430 for SSO, to access the selected networkapplication and/or other sanctioned network applications. In operation(5), the user can log into the selected network application, based onthe SSO (e.g., using the credentials). The client application (e.g., thenetworking agent 412 and/or the remote session agent 416) can establisha secure connection and session with the server(s) 430 to access theselected network application. The CEB can decrypt application trafficreceived via the secure connection. The CEB can monitor traffic sent viathe CEB and the secured connection to the servers 430.

In operation (6), the client application can provide information to theanalytics services 424 of cloud services 408, for analytics processing.For example, the cloud services agent 414 of the client application 404can monitor for or capture user interaction events with the selectednetwork application. The cloud services agent 414 can convey the userinteraction events to the analytics services 424, to be processed toproduce analytics.

FIG. 5 depicts an example embodiment of a system for using a securebrowser. In brief overview, the system includes cloud services 408,network applications 406 and client device 402. In some embodiments,various elements of the system are similar to that described above forFIG. 4, but that the client application (with embedded browser) is notavailable in the client device 402. A standard or typical browser may beavailable on the client device, from which a user can initiate a requestto access a sanctioned network application for instance. A networkapplication can be specified as being sanctioned or unsanctioned viapolicies that can be set by an administrator or automatically (e.g., viaartificial intelligence).

For example, in operation (1), the user may log into the networkapplication using the standard browser. For accessing a sanctionednetwork application, the user may access a predefined URL and/orcorresponding webpage of a server that provisions the networkapplication, via the standard browser, to initiate a request to accessthe network application. In some embodiments, the request can beforwarded to or intercepted by a designated gateway service (e.g., in adata path of the request). For example, the gateway service can resideon the client device (e.g., as an executable program), or can reside ona network device 432 of the cloud services 408 for instance. In someembodiments, the access gateway can correspond to or include the gatewayservice. The gateway service can determine if the requested networkapplication is a sanctioned network application. The gateway service candetermine if a CEB initiated the request. The gateway service can detector otherwise determine that the request is initiated from a source(e.g., initiated by the standard browser) in the client device otherthan a CEB. In some embodiments, there is no requirement for adesignated gateway service to detect or determine if the request isinitiated from a CEB, for example if the requested network applicationis sanctioned, that user is initiating the request via a standardbrowser, and/or that the predefined URL and/or corresponding webpage isaccessed.

In operation (2), the server may authenticate the user via the accessgateway of the cloud services 408. The server may communicate with theaccess gateway to authenticate the user, in response to the request. Forinstance, the request can include an indication to the server tocommunicate with the access gateway to authenticate the user. In someembodiments, the server is pre-configured to communicate with the accessgateway to authenticate the user, for requests to access a sanctionednetwork application. The server may send a request to the access gatewayto authenticate the user. In response to the server's request toauthenticate the user, the access gateway can provide credentials of theuser to the server 430.

In operation (3), the gateway service and/or the server can direct (orredirect) all traffic to a secure browser 420 which provides a securebrowsing service. This may be in response to at least one of: adetermination that the requested network application is a sanctionednetwork application, a determination that the request is initiated froma source other than a CEB, a determination that the requested networkapplication is sanctioned, a determination that user is initiating therequest via a standard browser, and/or a determination that thepredefined URL and/or corresponding webpage is accessed.

The user's URL session can be redirected to the secure browser. Forexample, the server, gateway service and/or the access gateway cangenerate and/or send a URL redirect message to the standard browser,responsive to the determination. The secure browser plug-in of thestandard browser can receive the URL redirect message, and can forexample send a request to access the non-sanctioned network application,to the secure browser 420. The secure browser 420 can direct the requestto the server of the non-sanctioned network application. The URLredirect message can instruct the standard browser (and/or the securebrowser plug-in) to direct traffic (e.g., destined for the networkapplication) from the standard browser to the secure browser 420 hostedon a network device. This can provide clientless access and control viadynamic routing though a secure browser service. In some embodiments, aredirection of all traffic to the secure browser 420 is initiated orconfigured, prior to performing authentication of the user (e.g., usingSSO) with the server.

In some embodiments, the gateway service can direct or request theserver of the requested network application to communicate with thesecure browser 420. For example, the gateway service can direct theserver and/or the secure browser to establish a secured connectionbetween the server and the secure browser, for establishing anapplication session for the network application.

In some embodiments, the secured browser 420 comprises a browser that ishosted on a network device 432 of the cloud services 408. The securedbrowser 420 can include one or more features of the secured browser 420described above in connection with at least FIG. 4 for instance. Thehosted browser can include an embedded browser of a CEB that is hostedon the network device 432 instead of on the client device. The hostedbrowser can include an embedded browser of a hosted virtualized versionof the CEB that is hosted on the network device 432. Similar to the CEBinstalled on the client device, traffic is routed through the CEB hostedon the network device, which allows an administrator to have visibilityof the traffic through the CEB and to remain in control for securitypolicy control, analytics, and/or management of performance.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example implementation for browser redirectionusing a secure browser plug-in. In brief overview, the implementationincludes a web browser 512 with a secure browser plug-in 516 operatingon a client device, and a hosted web browser (or secure browser) 522residing on a network device. The web browser 512 can correspond to astandard browser, instead of an embedded browser as discussed above inconnection with FIG. 4 for example. The secure browser plug-in 516 canexecute within a first network 510 and access a server 430 in a secondnetwork 530. The first network 510 and the second network 530 are forillustration purposes and may be replaced with fewer or additionalcomputer networks. A secure browser plug-in 516 can be installed on thestandard browser 512. The plug-in can include one or more components.One such component can include an ActiveX control or Java control or anyother type and/or form of executable instructions capable of loadinginto and executing in the standard browser. For example, the standardbrowser can load and run an Active X control of the secure browserplug-in 516, in a memory space or context of the standard browser. Insome embodiments, the secure browser plug-in can be installed as anextension on the standard browser, and a user can choose to enable ordisable the plugin or extension. The secure browser plug-in cancommunicate and/or operate with the secured browser 420 for securing,using and/or accessing resources within the secured portion of thedigital workspace.

By using the secure browser plug-in 516 operating within the standardbrowser 512 network applications accessed via the standard browser 512can be redirected to a hosted secure browser. For instance, the securebrowser plug-in 516 can be implemented and/or designed to detect that anetwork application is being accessed via the standard browser, and candirect/redirect traffic from the client device associated with thenetwork application, to the hosted secure browser. The hosted securebrowser can direct traffic received from the network application, to thesecure browser plug-in 516 and/or a client agent 514 for renderingand/or display for example. The client agent 514 can execute within theweb browser 512 and/or the secure browser plug-in, and can includecertain elements or features of the client application 404 discussedabove in connection with at least FIG. 4 for example. For instance, theclient agent 514 can include a remote session agent 416 for renderingthe network application at the web browser 512. In some embodiments, thenetwork application is rendered at the hosted secure browser, and therendered data is conveyed or mirrored to the secure browser plug-in 516and/or the client agent 514 for processing and/or display.

By way of an example, a user may be working remotely and may want toaccess a network application that is internal to a secure corporatenetwork while the user is working on a computing device connected to anunsecure network. In this case, the user may be utilizing the standardbrowser 512 executing in the first network 510, in which the firstnetwork 510 may comprise an unsecure network. The server 430 that theuser wants to access may be on the second network 530, in which thesecond network 530 comprises a secure corporate network for instance.The user might not be able to access the server 430 from the unsecurefirst network 510 by clicking on an internal uniform record locator(URL) for the secure website 532. That is, the user may need to utilizea different URL (e.g., an external URL) while executing the standardbrowser 512 from the external unsecure network 510. The external URL maybe directed to or may address one or more hosted web browsers 522configured to access server(s) 430 within the second network 530 (e.g.,secure network). To maintain secure access, the secure browser plug-in516 may redirect an internal URL to an external URL for a hosted securebrowser.

The secure browser plug-in 516 may be able to implement networkdetection in order to identify whether or not to redirect internal URLsto external URLs. The standard browser 512 may receive a requestcomprising an internal URL for a website executing within the securenetwork. For example, the standard browser 512 may receive the requestin response to a user entering a web address (e.g., for secure website532) in the standard browser. The secure browser plug-in 516 mayredirect the user web browser application 512 from the internal URL toan external URL for a hosted web browser application. For example, thesecure browser plug-in 516 may replace the internal URL with an externalURL for the hosted web browser application 522 executing within thesecure network 530.

The secure browser plug-in 516 may allow the client agent 514 to beconnected to the hosted web browser application 522. The client agent514 may comprise a plug-in component, such as an ActiveX control or Javacontrol or any other type and/or form of executable instructions capableof loading into and executing in the standard browser 512. For example,the client agent 514 may comprise an ActiveX control loaded and run by astandard browser 512, such as in the memory space or context of the userweb browser application 512. The client agent 514 may be pre-configuredto present the content of the hosted web browser application 522 withinthe user web browser application 512.

The client agent 514 may connect to a server or the cloud/hosted webbrowser service 520 using a thin-client or remote-display protocol topresent display output generated by the hosted web browser application522 executing on the service 520. The thin-client or remote-displayprotocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustive list ofprotocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

The hosted web browser application 522 may navigate to the requestednetwork application in full-screen mode, and can render the requestednetwork application. The client agent 514 may present the content orrendition of the network application on the web browser application 512in a seamless and transparent manner such that it appears that thecontent is being displayed by the standard browser 512, e.g., based onthe content being displayed in full screen mode. In other words, theuser may be given the impression that the website content is displayedby the user web browser application 512 and not by the hosted webbrowser application 522. The client agent 514 may transmit navigationcommands generated by the user web browser application 512 to the hostedweb browser application 522 using the thin-client or remote-displayprotocol. Changes to the display output of the hosted web browserapplication 522, due to the navigation commands, may be reflected in theuser web browser application 512 by the client agent 514, giving theimpression to the user that the navigation commands were executed by theuser web browser application 512.

Referring again to FIG. 5, and in operation (4), a new browser tab canopen on the standard browser, to render or display the secure browsersession. The new browser tab can be established or opened by the securebrowser plug-in for instance. The secure browser plug-in and/or a clientagent can receive data from the secure browser session, and can renderthe network application within the new browser tab as discussed above inconnection with FIG. 6 for instance.

In operation (5), the secure browser can feed all user interactionevents via the network application, back to analytics service forprocessing. The secure browser plug-in can monitor for and intercept anyuser interaction events directed to the rendition of the networkapplication within the browser tab. Hence, a user can use a native (orstandard) browser to access a network application while allowingvisibility into the network application's traffic, via theinteroperation of cloud services and a secure browser (in the absence ofthe client application).

FIG. 7 depicts another example embodiment of a system of using a securebrowser. In brief overview, the system includes cloud services 408,network applications 406 and the client device 402. In some embodiments,various elements of the system are similar to that described above forFIG. 5. A client application with embedded browser is not available inthe client device 402. A standard or typical (e.g., HTML5) browser isavailable on the client device, from which a user can initiate a requestto access a non-sanctioned network application. A network applicationcan be specified as being sanctioned or non-sanctioned via policies thatcan be set by an administrator or automatically (e.g., via artificialintelligence).

In operation (1), the user may attempt to log into a non-sanctionednetwork application using the standard browser. The user may attempt toaccess a webpage of a server that provisions the network application,and to initiate a request to access the network application. In someembodiments, the request can be forwarded to or intercepted by adesignated gateway service (e.g., in a data path of the request). Forexample, the gateway service (sometimes referred to as SWG) can resideon the client device (e.g., as an executable program), or can reside ona network device 432 of the cloud services 408 for instance. The gatewayservice can detect or otherwise determine if the requested networkapplication is a sanctioned network application. The gateway service candetermine if a CEB initiated the request. The gateway service can detector otherwise determine that the request is initiated from a source(e.g., initiated by the standard browser) in the client device otherthan a CEB.

In operation (2), the gateway service detects that the requested networkapplication is a non-sanctioned network application. The gateway servicecan for instance extract information from the request (e.g., destinationaddress, name of the requested network application), and compare theinformation against that from a database of sanctioned and/ornon-sanctioned network applications. The gateway service can determine,based on the comparison, that the requested network application is anon-sanctioned network application.

In operation (3), responsive to the determination, the gateway servicecan block access to the requested network application, e.g., by blockingthe request. The gateway service can generate and/or send a URL redirectmessage to the standard browser, responsive to the determination. TheURL redirect message can be similar to a URL redirect message sent fromthe server to the standard browser in FIG. 5 in operation (3). A securebrowser plug-in of the standard browser can receive the URL redirectmessage, and can for example send a request to access the non-sanctionednetwork application, to the secure browser 420. The secure browser 420can direct the request to the server of the non-sanctioned networkapplication.

The server of the non-sanctioned network application may authenticatethe user via the access gateway of the cloud services 408, e.g.,responsive to receiving the request from the secure browser. The servermay communicate with the access gateway to authenticate the user, inresponse to the request. The server may send a request to the accessgateway to authenticate the user. In response to the server's request toauthenticate the user, the access gateway can provide credentials of theuser to the server 430. Upon authentication, the secure browser (or acorresponding CEB) can establish a secured connection and an applicationsession with the server.

In operation (4), a new browser tab can open on the standard browser, torender or display the secure browser's application session. The newbrowser tab can be established or opened by the secure browser plug-infor instance. The secure browser plug-in and/or a client agent canreceive data from the secure browser session, and can render the networkapplication within the new browser tab as discussed above in connectionwith FIGS. 5-6 for instance.

In operation (5), the secure browser can feed all user interactionevents via the network application, back to analytics service forprocessing. The secure browser plug-in can monitor for and intercept anyuser interaction events directed to the rendition of the networkapplication within the browser tab. Hence, a user can use a native (orstandard) browser to access a network application while allowingvisibility into the network application's traffic, via theinteroperation of cloud services and a secure browser (in the absence ofthe client application).

In some embodiments, in the absence or non-availability of a CEB on theclient device, browser redirection is performed so that each requestednetwork application is accessed via a corresponding hosted securebrowser (or hosted CEB) for handling, instead of having all trafficredirected through a single hosted secure browser (or hosted CEB). Eachdedicated secure browser can provide compartmentalization and improvedsecurity.

The use of a CEB, whether hosted or local to the client device, canallow for end-to-end visibility of application traffic for analytics,service level agreement (SLA), resource utilization, audit, and so on.In addition to such visibility, the CEB can be configured with policiesfor managing and controlling any of these as well as other aspects. Forexample, DLP features can be supported, to control “copy and paste”activities, download of files, sharing of files, and to implementwatermarking for instance. As another example, the CEB can be configuredwith policies for managing and controlling access to local drives and/ordevice resources such as peripherals.

Referring now to FIG. 8, an example embodiment of a system for usinglocal embedded browser(s) and hosted secured browser(s) is depicted. Anenvironment is shown where different types of client devices 402A, 402Bmay be used (e.g., in a BYOD context), such that one may be locallyequipped with a suitable CEB, and another client device may not have asuitable local CEB installed. In such an environment, systems describedin FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 can be used to support each of the client devicesbased on the availability of a locally installed and suitable CEB.

FIG. 9 depicts an example process flow for using local embeddedbrowser(s) and hosted secured browser(s). The process flow can be usedin the environment described above in FIG. 8, to determine whether anembedded browser or a hosted secured browser should be used for eachclient device to access a network application. For example, in operation901, a HTTP client can attempt to access a web service (e.g., server ofa network application). In operation 903, the web service can redirectthe HTTP client to a gateway service for authentication. In operation905, the gateway service can determine if the HTTP client is a CEB. Ifso, in operation 909, the gateway service can determine if the CEB is asuitable CEB, e.g., capable of enforcing defined application policies.If so, in operation 911, the CEB is allowed access to the web service,and can enforce the defined policies.

If the gateway service determines that the HTTP client is not a CEB, thegateway service can cause a virtualized version of a CEB to beinitialized and hosted on a remote server (e.g., a network device 432 ofcloud services 408), in operation 907. In some embodiments, such ahosted CEB may already be available on a network device 432, and can beselected for use. For example in operation 911, the CEB is allowedaccess to the web service, and can enforce the defined policies.

If the gateway service determines that the HTTP client is a CEB, butthat the CEB is not a suitable CEB, the gateway service can cause avirtualized version of a CEB to be initialized and hosted on a remoteserver (e.g., a network device 432 of cloud services 408), in operation907. In some embodiments, such a hosted CEB may already be available ona network device 432, and can be selected for use. For example inoperation 911, the CEB is allowed access to the web service, and canenforce the defined policies.

In some embodiments, if the user is requesting access to a webapplication located in a company data center, the gateway service (incloud service or on premise) can allow access when the clientapplication with CEB is detected. Otherwise, the request can be routedto a service with the hosted virtualized version of the CEB, and thenaccess is authenticated and granted.

At operation 905 and/or operation 909 for instance, the decisions madeon whether the HTTP client is a CEB and whether it is a suitable CEB maybe determined by a number of factors. For example, to determine if theHTTP client is CEB, the gateway service may take into account factors,for example including at least one of: user Identity and strength ofauthentication, client Location, client IP Address, how trusted the useridentity, client location, client IP are, jailbreak status of the clientdevice, status of anti-malware software, compliance to corporate policyof the client device, and/or remote attestation or other evidence ofintegrity of the client software.

To determine if the CEB is able to honor or support all definedapplication policies (which may vary by client version, client OSplatform and other factors), the client device's software and gatewayservice may perform capability negotiation and/or exchange versioninformation. In some embodiments, the gateway service can query or checka version number or identifier of the CEB to determine if the CEB is asuitable CEB to use.

Driving all the traffic though the CEB then allows additional control ofcontent accessing SaaS and Web based systems. Data Loss Prevention (DLP)of SaaS and Web traffic can be applied through the CEB app with featuresincluding copy and paste control to other CEB access applications or ITmanaged devices. DLP can also be enforced by enabling content to bedownloaded only to designated file servers or services under IT control.

Referring now to FIG. 10, depicted is an example embodiment of a systemfor managing user access to webpages. Some webpages (or websites) areknown to be safe while others may be suspect. A user may access awebpage via a corresponding URL through a standard browser. For example,the user may click on a link corresponding to the URL, which may beincluded in an email being viewed using a mail application. An accessgateway (SWG) may intercept an access request generated by the clickingof the link, and can determine if the corresponding URL is safe orsuspect. If the URL is known to be safe, the access gateway can allowthe request to proceed to the corresponding website or web server. Ifthe URL is suspect, the access gateway can redirect the request to behandled via a hosted secure browser. The secure browser can requestaccess for, and access the webpage (on behalf of the standard browser),and can allow the webpage information to be conveyed to the standardbrowser, similar to the handling of a network application via browserredirection as discussed in connection with at least FIGS. 7 and 5.

C. Systems and Methods for Displaying Overlays for a Network Application

The present disclosure is directed towards systems and methods fordisplaying software-as-a-service (SaaS) overlays on a networkapplication via an embedded browser on a client device. SaaSapplications, also referred to as network applications, are not easilycustomizable by the enterprise and such customizations require largecosts to be paid to software consultants. For instance, customizingSalesforce or SAP can be a huge cost for the enterprise. Furthermore,the workflow of SaaS applications can be complex causing users to needtraining on usage. This training can decrease user productivity and costthe organization. In addition, SaaS applications can be monotonous whichdecreases user engagement.

To address the previously mentioned concerns, an embedded browser withina client application on a client device can be leveraged to display orpresent overlay content on top of a network application running withinthe embedded browser. The overlay content may provide the user withtraining videos, tutorials, social options (e.g., emoticons, likes),form help text, form autofill suggestions, or navigation assistance.Once the overlay content is presented, feedback can be received in orderto modify the subsequent overlays.

In some embodiments, the overlay customization on the networkapplication can address some of the problems described herein bycreating training/tutorial videos, navigations; help guides and enablingsocial behavior on the network application. Since the networkapplication runs inside or within the embedded browser of the clientapplication, the present solution can cause the client application orthe embedded browser to add training videos/tutorials for first timeusers of the network application. Furthermore, the present solution cancause the client application or the embedded browser to determine thespecific forms in the network application workflow and add help text oncertain forms and specific text areas of the forms. Moreover, thepresent solution can cause the client application or the embeddedbrowser to add specific social options like emoji, likes, and custommessages on top of the forms as well as add or provide the autofillsuggestions in the form with the overlay that can be then inserted inthe form.

As will be described herein, a client application on a client device canbe configured to establish a session to a network application accessedvia an embedded browser of the client application. The embedded browserof the client application may receive and display a web page of thenetwork application. The client application may identify one or moreoverlays to be displayed over the web page in the embedded browser basedon one or more conditions or policies. The client application maydisplay the one or more overlays over the web page in the embeddedbrowser. In certain embodiments, the embedded browser may display theone or more overlays over the web page or contents of the web page. Insome embodiments, the client application can receive and maintain datarelating to the display of the one or more overlays over the web page.This data could be further utilized to modify future overlay content.The functionality described herein that is performed by the clientapplication can be managed, handled or provided by an overlay agent ofthe client application. The overlay agent and its functionality arefurther described with respect to FIG. 11.

In some embodiments, the client application can include an overlay agentthat can communicate with an overlay service of the first entity thatprovided the client application to one or more client devices. Theoverlay services of the first entity can generate, maintain, modify,update, or manage the overlay content that is provided to the clientapplication for presentation via the embedded browser of the clientapplication. The overlay services and its functionality are furtherdescribed with respect to FIG. 12.

Referring to FIG. 11, depicted is a block diagram of one embodiment ofan overlay agent of a client application for managing the display ofoverlay content and providing feedback relating to the overlay content.Overlay agent 1100 may be a part of the client application and caninclude a supplemental content manager 1102, an embedded browseractivity monitor 1104, and/or a condition detector 1106. The overlayagent 1100 may also include a supplemental content selector 1108, asupplemental content presenter 1110, and/or a feedback provider 1112.

Referring now also to FIG. 12, depicted is a block diagram of an exampleembodiment of an overlay service for managing overlay content andfeedback relating to the overlay content. Overlay services 1200 mayinclude a network application content manager 1202, a supplementalcontent package generator 1204, a supplemental content policy manager1206, a supplemental content tracker 1208, and/or a feedback manager1210. Overlay services 1200 may generate and/or manage a supplementalcontent package 1120.

Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is implemented inhardware, or a combination of hardware and software, in one or moreembodiments. Each component of the overlay agent 1100 may be implementedusing hardware or a combination of hardware or software detailed abovein connection with FIG. 1. Each component of the overlay services 1200and supplemental content package 1120 may also be implemented usinghardware or a combination of hardware or software detailed above inconnection with FIG. 1. For instance, each of the elements or entitiesshown in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12 can include any application, program,library, script, task, service, process or any type and form ofexecutable instructions executing on hardware (e.g., of the clientdevice). The hardware includes circuitry such as one or more processorsin one or more embodiments.

The supplemental content package manager 1102 of the overlay agent 1100of the client application can be configured to manage a supplementalcontent package 1120 generated by the overlay services 1200 of the firstentity that is in communication with the client application. Thesupplemental content package manager 1102 can be configured to requestsupplemental content packages from the overlay services 1200. In someembodiments, the overlay services 1200 can be configured to transmit oneor more supplemental content packages 1120 to the overlay agent 1100 ofone or more client applications.

The supplemental content package 1120 may include supplemental contentitems 1122, condition detection policies 1124, supplemental contentselection policies 1126, and/or supplemental content presentationpolicies 1128. The supplemental content package manager 1102 can storethe supplemental content package 1120 in one or more data structures(e.g., a database, a list, an array, etc.). In some embodiments, thesupplemental content packages 1120 can be specific to a particularnetwork application. In some embodiments, the supplemental contentpackages 1120 can be specific to a particular client application. Insome embodiments, the supplemental content packages 1120 can be specificto a particular user of a client application or a type of user of theenterprise. In some embodiments, the supplemental content packages 1120can include content that may be used to assist one or more usersnavigate the network application.

The supplemental content package generator 1204 can be configured toidentify one or more supplemental content items that can be used topresent on a client application. The content items can be generated bythe first entity such that the content items can be specific to theenterprise associated with the first entity. In this way, enterprisesthat have customized solutions can be used to present content items thatare specific to the enterprise as opposed to generic content itemsgenerated by the entity providing the network application in which case,the generic content items are generic across multiple enterprises.

In some embodiments, the supplemental content items 1122 may include theoverlay content to be displayed over a web page in the embedded browserof the client application. Supplemental content items 1122 may be usedto assist and engage users when interacting with the web page in theembedded browser. In some embodiments, the overlay content may includetraining and/or tutorial videos. The overlay content can includenavigational flows and/or help guides. In certain embodiments, theoverlay content may include text autofill suggestions and/or help textto be used on a form of a web page. In some cases, overlay content mayinclude social behavior items (e.g., emoticons, like buttons, custommessages, etc.).

In some embodiments, the supplemental content items 1122 may includeoverlay content relating to custom workflows. The custom workflows maybe specific to a user. The custom workflow may be specific to aparticular group or team. The custom workflow may be specific to usersbelonging to a particular job title, job role, or other definedcharacteristic.

The supplemental content items can be presented in accordance to one ormore policies. These policies can be included in the supplementalcontent package. In some embodiments, the supplemental content items canbe associated with the one or more policies 1124-1128.

Policies (e.g., condition detection policies 1124, supplemental contentselection policies 1126, and supplemental content presentation policies1128) may be included in the supplemental content package 1120. Thesupplemental content package 1120 may contain a data structure (e.g., adatabase) for each of the condition detection policies 1124,supplemental content selection policies 1126, or supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128. The policies may be managed by thesupplemental content policy manager 1206 of the overlay service 1200.Details regarding the supplemental content policy manager 1206 areprovided below with respect to FIG. 12.

Condition detection policies 1124 may include policies that detectvarious conditions in which overlay content should be displayed.Condition detector 1106 may be configured to use the condition detectionpolicies 1124 provided by the supplemental content package 1120 tocompare the condition of the current embedded browser, more specificallythe current web page, to the list of condition detection policies 1124.The embedded browser activity monitor 1104 may provide the currentcondition of the embedded browser and/or web page to the conditiondetector 1106. If a condition detection policy is satisfied, thesupplemental content selector 1108 may be notified to select the overlaycontent to be displayed. For example, condition detection policies 1124may contain a policy for the first time use of a web page. Embeddedbrowser activity monitor 1104 may determine that a user has visited aweb page for the first time and may notify the condition detector 1106.The condition detector 1106 may determine that the conditions satisfythe first time use policy and notify the supplemental content selector1108 to select the overlay content to be displayed. Ultimately, atutorial overlay content may be displayed for the first time a user hasvisited a web page in order to provide help.

Supplemental content selection policies 1126 may include policies thatdetermine which overlay content is to be selected to be displayed overthe web page of the embedded browser. Supplemental content selectionpolicies 1126 may be used to ensure that the appropriate overlay contentis displayed over the web page. Supplemental content selector 1108 maybe configured to use the supplemental content selection policies 1126provided by the supplemental content package 1120 to compare thecondition of the current embedded browser, more specifically the currentweb page, to the list of supplemental content selection policies 1126.The embedded browser activity monitor 1104 may provide the currentcondition of the embedded browser and/or web page. The supplementalcontent selector 1108 may also use data provided by the conditiondetector 1106 when comparing conditions to the supplemental contentselection policies 1126. If a supplemental content selection policy issatisfied, the supplemental content presenter may be notified to selectthe conditions around which the selected overlay content is presented.For instance, supplemental content selection policies 1126 may contain apolicy for selecting text auto fill suggestions overlay content when aform is displayed on a web page. The condition detector 1106 maydetermine that a form is displayed on the web page of the embeddedbrowser. The supplemental content selection policies 1126 may determinethat the conditions satisfy the form overlay content policy.Supplemental content selector 1108 may select text autofill suggestionsoverlay content and notify the supplemental content presenter 1110 todetermine the manner in which the selected overlay content should bedisplayed.

Supplemental content presentation policies 1128 may include policiesthat dictate the presentation of overlay content. For instance,supplemental content presentation policies 1128 may determine how longoverlay content is to be displayed for. Supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128 may also determine the appearance of theoverlay content (e.g., element positions, style, etc.).

The supplemental content selector 1108 may select social behavioroverlay content, such as an emoji or a like button. The supplementalcontent presenter 1110 may determine that the condition of socialbehavior overlay content being selected satisfies the social behavioroverlay content selection policy. The supplemental content presenter1110 may present the social behavior overlay content in the lower leftcorner of the web page the entire time that the web page is rendered inthe embedded browser.

The supplemental content package manager 1102 may manage the policiesfor detecting conditions for presenting overlay content, selectingoverlay content, and presenting overlay content. Condition detector1106, supplemental content selector 1108, and supplemental contentpresenter 1110 may be configured to use the policies (e.g., stored indatabases) managed by the supplemental content package manager 1102. Insome embodiments, the policies for detecting conditions for presentingoverlay content, selecting overlay content, and presenting overlaycontent can be stored in one or more data structures managed ormaintained by the supplemental content package manager 1102. In someembodiments, the supplemental content package manager 1102 may provideoverlay content via the embedded browser of the client application whenthe overlay content is to be displayed responsive to one or moreconditions and/or policies being satisfied. Additional detail regardingthe use of the policies and the presentation, selection and feedback ofthe overlay content is provided below.

The embedded browser activity manager 1104 can be configured to monitorthe activity of the embedded browser and activity performed on theembedded browser by the user or activity generated in response toactions by the user. The monitored activity may include various forms ofuser interaction such as mouse clicks, entered text, and page visits.The embedded browser activity manager 1104 may record, log, store orotherwise maintain a log of the embedded browser activity. The embeddedbrowser activity manager 1104 can be configured to monitor and/or recordcursor positions of a pointing device, track the movement of thepointing device, monitor keystrokes or other inputs detectable by theclient application, as well as monitor content displayed within theembedded browser. The embedded browser activity manager 1104 canidentify a page that is accessed, an amount of time the page ispresented for as well as monitor the user's behavior or interactionswith the page. Based on the recorded usage, the client application candetermine whether or not to present overlay content that may be ofassistance to the user.

The condition detector 1106 can be configured to detect conditions forwhich overlay content should be displayed. In some embodiments, thecondition detector 1106 can access, monitor, analyze or otherwise usethe monitored embedded browser activity to determine if a particularcondition has occurred. The condition detector 1106 can determine if aparticular condition has occurred responsive to applying one or more ofthe condition detection policies 1124 maintained by the overlay agent1100. In some embodiments, the condition detection policies 1124 can beincluded in a supplemental content package 1212. In some embodiments,the client application or the overlay agent 1100 may receive, maintain,or otherwise have access to one or more condition detection policiesfrom one or more sources.

The condition detector 1106 can be configured to compare the monitoredembedded browser activity of the embedded browser to one or moreconditions represented by a policy. In the case that monitored embeddedbrowser activity of the embedded browser satisfies one or more of thecondition detection policies 1124, the condition detector 1106 maynotify the supplemental content selector 1108 to trigger the selectionof overlay content. For instance, the condition detector 1106 mayreceive notice from the embedded browser activity monitor 1104 that auser is using the network application for the first time. Thesupplemental content package 1120 stored in the supplemental contentpackage manager 1102 may maintain a condition detection policy for firsttime use. The condition detector 1106 may determine that the noticereceived from the embedded browser activity monitor 1104 satisfies thefirst time use condition detection policy. The condition detector 1106may then notify the supplemental content selector 1108 to select overlaycontent to be displayed.

The supplemental content selector 1108 can be configured to selectoverlay content, such as supplemental content items 1122 responsive todetermining or receiving an indication that the embedded browseractivity satisfies one or more condition detection policies 1124. Thesupplemental content selector 1108 can be configured to select anoverlay content from a plurality of candidate overlay content maintainedby the client application for presentation responsive to thesatisfaction of the one or more condition detection policies 1124. Insome embodiments, the supplemental content selector 1108 can use one ormore supplemental content selection policies 1126 to select a suitableoverlay content from the plurality of candidate overlay content. Forexample, in conjunction with a first time use condition detectionpolicy, there may be a supplemental content selection policy 1126including one or more rules for selecting a tutorial overlay contentwhen a user is using or accessing a network application for the firsttime. It should be appreciated that the embedded browser activitymonitor 1104 is configured to detect a number of times a user hasaccessed a network application such that the condition detector 1104 candetect that the user is accessing the network application for the firsttime.

Supplemental content presenter 1110 can be configured to present theoverlay content over the web page via the embedded browser of the clientapplication. The overlay content to be presented may be selected by thesupplemental content selector 1108. In some embodiments, thesupplemental content presenter 1110 may use supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128 stored in the supplemental content packagemanager 1102 to determine the presentation of the supplemental content.For example, when displaying a tutorial overlay, there may be asupplemental content presentation policy including rules to display thetutorial overlay until the user clicks the exit button.

The supplemental content presenter 1110 can be configured to present theoverlay content according to one or more supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128. The supplemental content presentationpolicies 1128 can include rules indicating how long a supplementalcontent item 1122 is to be displayed, a location at which thesupplemental content item 1122 is to be displayed, a size at which todisplay the supplemental content item 1122, as well as identifying oneor more other visual characteristics in which to display thesupplemental content item 1122. In some embodiments, the supplementalcontent item can be an audio content item. In some such embodiments, thesupplemental content presentation policies 1128 can include rulesindicating when to play the audio content item, a volume at which toplay the audio content item, among others.

The feedback provider 1112 can be configured to collect data relating tothe display of the overlay content as well as any interactions the userhad with the overlay content. The feedback provider 1112 is furtherconfigured to transmit the collected feedback to the overlay services1200. By collecting feedback, the overlay services can maintainstatistics regarding the overlay content, its usage, performance andeffectiveness. For example, the number of page clicks, text entered, orbuttons clicked may be recorded.

In some embodiments, the feedback provider 1112 of the clientapplication can transmit the statistics relating to the display of theone or more overlays to the overlay services 1200. The overlay servicescan collect the statistics received from the plurality of clientapplications that provided overlays for a network application and sharethe statistics with the server hosting the network application. In someembodiments, the overlay services 1200 can aggregate the statistics,determine the performance of each of the overlays based on interactionswith the overlays (included in the statistics) and use the performanceinformation to inform the server or the vendor providing the networkapplication about the performance of the network application based onthe use of the overlays.

In some embodiments, the feedback provider 1112 can aggregate statisticsrelating to social behavior overlay objects as well as other overlayobjects to determine user engagement analytics As described herein, theoverlay objects can be provided by, generated, designed and presentedvia the overlay services 1200 independent of the server hosting thenetwork application or the vendor of the network application.

In some embodiments, the customization to the network application, forinstance, the addition or inclusion of overlays, can be done at thesource by independent service vendors or by consultants who customizethe network application at the source of the network application. Thecustomization using overlays can be low touch and in some embodiments,does not affect the code of the network application at all such thatfront end modifications or customizations to the network application donot alter the code of the network application.

In this way, enterprises using the network application can be empoweredto add additional custom behaviors to the network application, which mayotherwise not be available within the application, for instance, in thedefault network version of the network application. In some embodiments,the customization provided to the network application can be enabled asa per application workflow overlay on top of the network application. Insome embodiments, different users within the enterprise may receivedifferent custom overlays specific to the user. For instance, thecustomizations can be user specific or specific to a particular groupwithin the enterprise, a particular segment of the enterprise, orspecific to a particular title, job position, or other criteria.

The performance of each of the social behavior overlay objects providedby the client applications can be tracked. In particular, the clientapplication, or the feedback provider, can track a number of the timesan overlay object is displayed, a number of times an interaction withthe overlay object occurs, a type of interaction, among others. Theinteractions can be tracked and used by the feedback provider to beshared with the overlay services 1200. The overlay services can thenshare aggregated statistics based on the performance of the overlayobjects to the network application vendor or server hosting the networkapplication or share the statistics with an independent service vendoror other entity that may use the statistics to generate additionaloverlay content or modify the existing overlay content based on thefeedback. As such, end users net promoter scores (NPS) or other metricsrelating to the use of the overlay objects can be used by theindependent server vendors, the enterprise, or the provider of thenetwork application as best practices or to establish or update bestpractices.

Referring now again to FIG. 12, the network application content manager1202 can be configured to manage content related to network applicationsaccessed via the embedded browser of the client application. In someembodiments, the network applications are hosted on a server differentfrom the server of the enterprise that provides the client applicationto the client device or otherwise communicates with the clientapplication on the client device. The network application contentmanager 1202 may receive, generate, or otherwise access content relatingto one or more network applications. In some embodiments, the networkapplication content manager 1202 may establish more or more sessionsbetween the overlay service and the network application to receivecontent from the network application or to determine a status of thenetwork application.

The network application content manager 1202 can receive and maintaincontent items that can be used as overlay content or to generate overlaycontent that can then be transmitted to and presented by the clientapplication. The network application content manager 1202 can maintainone or more data structures in which the content received from orrelating to the network applications can be stored and made accessibleto the supplemental content package generator 1204 or any other moduleof the overlay services 1200.

The supplemental content package generator 1204 can be configured togenerate one or more supplemental content packages 1120. As describedabove, the supplemental content package 1120 may include supplementalcontent items 1122, condition detection policies 1124, supplementalcontent selection policies 1126, and/or supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128. The supplemental content package manager1102 can store the supplemental content package 1120 in one or more datastructures (e.g., a database, a list, an array, etc.).

The supplemental content package generator 1204 can be configured toidentify one or more supplemental content items that can be used topresent on a client application. The content items can be generated bythe first entity such that the content items can be specific to theenterprise associated with the first entity. In this way, enterprisesthat have customized solutions can be used to present content items thatare specific to the enterprise as opposed to generic content itemsgenerated by the entity providing the network application in which case,the generic content items are generic across multiple enterprises.

In some embodiments, the supplemental content items 1122 may include theoverlay content to be displayed over a web page in the embedded browserof the client application. Supplemental content items 1122 may be usedto assist and engage users when interacting with the web page in theembedded browser. In some embodiments, the overlay content may includetraining and/or tutorial videos. The overlay content can includenavigational flows and/or help guides. In certain embodiments, theoverlay content may include text autofill suggestions and/or help textto be used on a form of a web page. In some cases, overlay content mayinclude social behavior items (e.g., emoticons, like buttons, custommessages, custom workflows, etc.).

In some embodiments, the supplemental content packages 1120 can bespecific to a particular network application. In some embodiments, thesupplemental content packages 1120 can be specific to a particularclient application. In some embodiments, the supplemental contentpackages 1120 can be specific to a particular user of a clientapplication or a type of user of the enterprise. In some embodiments,the supplemental content packages 1120 can include content that may beused to assist one or more users navigate the network application.

The supplemental content policy manager 1206 can be configured togenerate, associate, manage, or assign one or more policies to one ormore supplemental content items 1122. The supplemental content policymanager 1206 can be configured to generate a condition detection policyincluding one or more rules identify one or more conditions upon whichto present one or more content items. For instance, the condition canrelate to a user being a first time user of a network application.Another condition can include a user spending more than a predeterminedamount of time on a page, or a portion of a page, or on a field in aform. Another condition can include a user entering incorrect or invalidinformation more than a predetermined time. The condition can be basedon the monitored embedded browser activity, user interactions, or aprofile of a user maintained by the client application or the overlayservice.

The supplemental content policy manager 1206 can be further configuredto generate, associate, manage, or assign one or more supplementalcontent selection policies 1126 for one or more conditions or one ormore supplemental content items 1122. For instance, the supplementalcontent policy manger 1206 can be further configured to apply aselection policy to a user tutorial content item that is configured tocause selection of the user tutorial content item when the user isdetermined to be a first time user of a network application. Thesupplemental content policy manager 1206 can further maintain theassociation between the content item and the selection policy and sharethe association with one or more client applications via thesupplemental content package 1120. Supplemental content selectionpolicies 1126 may include policies that determine which overlay contentis to be selected to be displayed over the web page of the embeddedbrowser. Supplemental content selection policies 1126 may be used toensure that the appropriate overlay content is displayed over the webpage.

The supplemental content presentation manager 1206 can be furtherconfigured to generate, associate, manage, or assign one or moresupplemental content presentation policies 1126 for one or moreconditions or one or more supplemental content items 1122. Supplementalcontent presentation policies 1128 may include policies that dictate thepresentation of overlay content. For instance, supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128 may determine how long overlay content is tobe displayed for. Supplemental content presentation policies 1128 mayalso determine the appearance of the overlay content (e.g., elementpositions, style, etc.). The supplemental content presentation policies1128 can include rules indicating how long a supplemental content item1122 is to be displayed, a location at which the supplemental contentitem 1122 is to be displayed, a size at which to display thesupplemental content item 1122, as well as identifying one or more othervisual characteristics in which to display the supplemental content item1122. In some embodiments, the supplemental content item can be an audiocontent item. In some such embodiments, the supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128 can include rules indicating when to play theaudio content item, a volume at which to play the audio content item,among others.

The supplemental content tracker 1208 may track various details of theinteraction with the displayed overlay content. The supplemental contenttracker 1208 can be configured to track the number of times a particularoverlay content has been presented, a number of users to which it hasbeen presented, a position on a display at which the content waspresented, a timestamp at which it was presented, among otherinformation that may be relevant or useful for monitoring theperformance or usage of the supplemental content item. Details of theinteraction with the displayed overlay content may include, but is notlimited to, button clicks, entered text, page visits, and/or suggestionusage. The supplemental content tracker 1208 may send statistics to thefeedback provider 1112 to be handled further.

The feedback manager 1210 may manage feedback received regarding thepresented overlays. The feedback may be received from the feedbackprovider 1112 of the overlay agent 1100. Feedback may include variousstatistics collected by the supplement content tracker 1208. Contents ofthe feedback manager 1210 may be used to modify overlay content and itsrespective policies. The feedback manager 1210 may store its contents ina data structure, such as a database, list, or enumerator. In someembodiments, if the feedback manager 1210 determines that multiple usersare still having issues navigating the network application despite beingdisplayed a tutorial on how to navigate the network application, thefeedback manager 1210 can determine that the performance score of thetutorial content item is below a certain threshold and may determine toreplace the tutorial or flag the tutorial for an administrator to modifythe tutorial. In some embodiments, users of client applications thatviewed the tutorial may provide feedback that can be aggregated by thefeedback manager 1210, which can then be used to modify or improve thetutorial.

Referring to FIG. 13, depicted is an example embodiment of a system 1300for displaying overlay content and receiving feedback. System 1300 mayinclude an overlay services 1200, an overlay agent 1100, and/or a clientembedded browser 410. The overlay services 1200 may include one or moreelements of any embodiment of the overlay services 1200 described abovein connection with at least FIG. 12. The overlay agent 1100 may includeone or more elements of any embodiment of the overlay agent 1100described above in connection with at least FIG. 11. The client embeddedbrowser 410 may include one or more elements of any embodiment of theembedded browser 410 described above in connection with at least FIGS. 4and 8.

Each of the above-mentioned elements or entities is implemented inhardware, or a combination of hardware and software, in one or moreembodiments. Each component of system 1300 may be implemented usinghardware or a combination of hardware or software detailed above inconnection with FIG. 1. For instance, each of these elements or entitiescan include any application, program, library, script, task, service,process or any type and form of executable instructions executing onhardware (e.g., of the client device). The hardware includes circuitrysuch as one or more processors in one or more embodiments.

The client embedded browser 410 may be executed (e.g., via one or moreprocessors described in connection with at least FIG. 1) on a clientdevice 410. The client embedded browser 410 may be a standalone browserapplication. In some embodiments, the embedded browser may be integratedwithin a client application. The client embedded browser 410 may provideaccess to one or more network applications. The one or more networkapplication may include any type or form of network application 406described above in connection with at least FIGS. 2-5, 7, and 8.

Overlay services 1200 of system 1300 may generate overlay content (e.g.,supplemental content items 1122 in the supplemental content package1120) and maintain detection conditions and policies (e.g., conditiondetection policies 1124 in the supplemental content package 1120) forwhich overlay content should be displayed. Upon detecting a condition,the overlay agent 1100 may provide the client embedded browser 410 withone or more overlays to be displayed over the web page. The clientembedded browser 410 may collect data regarding the overlays and theoverlay services 1200 may receive the data feedback. The overlayservices 1200 may use the feedback to modify the current overlay contentand their respective conditions and policies. One or more components ofthe overlay services 1200 described above in connection with FIG. 12 maybe used to receive feedback and modify the supplemental content package1120.

Referring to FIG. 14, depicted is a flow diagram of one embodiment of amethod for displaying overlay content. The functionalities of the methodmay be implemented using, or performed by, the components detailedherein in connection with FIGS. 1-13 and 15. In brief overview, a clientapplication can establish a session with a network application (1400).An embedded browser of the client application can receive a web page(1405). The client application can identify an overlay to be displayedover the web page (1410). The client application can display the overlayover the web page (1415).

Referring now to operation (1400), and in some embodiments, a clientapplication can establish a session with a network application. A clientapplication may establish a session to a network application to beaccessed via an embedded browser of the client application on a clientdevice. In some embodiments, the network application may be anapplication hosted on a server accessed by the client device via anetwork. The server may be a different entity than the entity of theclient device. In some embodiments, the embedded browser is integratedinto the client application and the network application can be accessedvia the embedded browser.

In certain embodiments, the established session between the clientapplication and the network application may be a secure session. Thesession may be for provisioning a session of the network applicationhosted and/or executing on the server, between the server and the clientapplication. The session can be established using Citrix high definitionuser experience (HDX) protocol (e.g., as an HDX session), or independentcomputing architecture (ICA) protocol, or remote desktop protocol(RDP)). The session may be a secure browser session, that conveysnetwork application data rendered on a secure browser hosted on theserver, to the client application. A variety of network protocols may beused to communicate network application data through the session, suchas Secure HTTP (S-HTTP or HTTPS), Transport Layer Security (TLS), andSecure Socket Layer (SSL).

In some embodiments, the client application may establish one or moresessions to one or more network applications. For instance, the clientapplication may establish a single session to a plurality of networkapplications (e.g., 5 network applications). In some cases, the clientapplication may establish a plurality of sessions (e.g., 3 sessions) toa single network application. Additionally, as previously mentioned, theclient application may establish a single session to a single networkapplication.

Referring now to operation (1405), and in some embodiments, an embeddedbrowser of the client application can receive a web page. In someembodiments, the embedded browser of the client application may receiveand display a web page of a network application. The web page displayedmay be from a plurality of web pages provided by one or more networkapplications. The web page displayed may be a form, contain text fields,contain buttons, and/or contain plain text. The displayed web page maybe used to retrieve information from a user or may be used to inform theuser of various information.

In some embodiments, the client application may receive a web page inresponse to an action. Upon establishing a session (e.g., operation1400) between the client application and a network application, theclient application may receive a home page to display. In some cases, aweb page may be received in response to a button click on an existingdisplayed web page. For example, a next arrow button may be clicked onan existing displayed web page. This may trigger a web page next in thesequence to be displayed.

In certain embodiments, the activity of the embedded browser, and insome embodiments, the activity on the web page may be monitored by theembedded browser activity monitor 1104. Activity such as button clicks,entered text, videos watched, and/or time spent on a web page may bemonitored. The embedded browser activity monitor 1104 may help determinethe current conditions of the web page, embedded browser, and/or clientapplication. The embedded browser activity monitor 1104 may send thecurrent conditions to the condition detector 1106 to identify an overlayto be displayed over the web page of the embedded browser, for examplein operation (1410).

Referring now to operation (1410), and in some embodiments, the clientapplication can identify an overlay to be displayed over the web page.Policies, such as condition detection policies 1124, supplementalcontent selection policies 1126, and/or supplemental contentpresentation policies 1128 may be used to select the overlay content andthe conditions under which it's displayed. Condition detector 1106 mayreceive notice of a certain condition from the embedded browser activitymonitor 1104. The provided condition may be compared against the list ofcondition detection policies 1122. Pending a condition detection policy1124 is satisfied, the supplemental content selector 1108 can benotified to select the overlay content. The supplemental contentselector 1108 may be use the satisfied condition detection policy 1124and the current condition of the web page, embedded browser and/orclient application to compare against the list of supplemental contentselection policies 1126. Pending a supplemental content selection policyis satisfied, the supplemental content selector 1108 may notify thesupplemental content presenter 1110 to determine the conditions aroundwhich the overlay content will be presented. Using the previouslydiscussed conditions and/or satisfied policies, the supplemental contentpresenter may compare those to the list of supplemental contentpresentation policies 1126. Upon determining that at least onesupplemental content presentation policy is satisfied, the supplementalcontent presenter 1110 can determine how the overlay content should bedisplayed.

The client application may identify one or more overlays to be displayedover the web page in the embedded browser. In some embodiments, one ormore overlays may be identified to be displayed if one or more policieswere satisfied. For example, embedded browser activity monitor 1104 maydetermine that a user is visiting a web page first the first time andthat the web page contains a form. Embedded browser activity monitor1104 may notify condition detector 1106 of these conditions and thecondition detector 1106 may determine that these conditions satisfy twoof the condition detection policies. Ultimately, a tutorial overlaycontent and text autofill suggestions overlay content may be selected tobe displayed over the web page in the embedded browser.

In some embodiments, the overlay may be provided to the clientapplication by a different entity than the entity of the server hostingthe network application. For example, the overlay may be provided bysupplemental content package manager 1102 of overlay agent 1100described in reference to FIG. 11. One or more overlays may be providedto the client application to be displayed. Supplemental content selector1108 may select the overlay content and supplemental content presenter1110 may receive the selected overlay content to display, for example inoperation (1415).

Referring now to operation (1415), and in some embodiments, the clientapplication can display the overlay over the web page (1415). The clientapplication may display the selected overlay (e.g., from operation 1410)over the web page in the embedded browser. In some embodiments, overlayagent 1100 may display the overlay over the web page. For instance, thesupplemental content presenter 1110 may present the overlay content tobe displayed over the web page in the embedded browser of the clientapplication. In certain embodiments, the embedded browser of the clientapplication may display the overlay over the web page.

In some embodiments, the client application may display one or moreoverlays over the web page. The one or more overlays may serve the samepurpose or may server differing purposes. For example, the clientapplication may display a tutorial overlay as well as a social feedbackoverlay over the same web page in the embedded browser. On the contrary,the client application may display two different tutorial overlays overthe same web page in the embedded browser. One tutorial overlay may befor navigation while the other tutorial overlay may be for filling out aform.

Upon displaying the overlay over the web page, a user may interact withthe web page and its respective overlay(s). The user may be re-directedto a new web page, for example due to activating a link or button via amouse click. In the case that a new web page is rendered in the embeddedbrowser of the client application, the overlay content may be removed.Pending the new received web page (e.g., operation 1405), the clientapplication may identify new overlay content to be displayed over theweb page (operation 1410). In some embodiments, the original overlaycontent may remain displayed over the new web page.

Referring to FIG. 15, depicted a flow diagram of one embodiment of amethod for modifying overlay content. The functionalities of the methodmay be implemented using, or performed by, the components detailedherein in connection with FIGS. 1-14. In brief overview, a clientapplication can display an overlay over the web page (1500). The clientapplication can receive feedback relating to the display of the overlay(1505). The client application can modify the overlay content (1510).

Referring now to operation (1500), and in some embodiments, a clientapplication can display an overlay over the web page. Similar tooperation (1415) described in reference to FIG. 14, the clientapplication may display selected overlay content over the web pagerendered in the embedded browser of the client application. Overlayagent 1100 may present the overlay content via the supplemental contentpresenter 1110. The overlay content may be displayed over the web pagein the embedded browser and may be configured to allow user interaction.

In some embodiments, the overlay content selected to be displayed may beselected by a step similar to operation (1410) described in reference toFIG. 14. Pending the conditions and/or policies mentioned in referenceto at least FIGS. 12 and 14, overlay content may be selected to bedisplayed by the embedded browser of the client application. Aparticular condition may trigger a specific overlay to be displayed. Forexample, the first time a web page is rendered, a tutorial overlay maybe selected. By way of another example, a web page containing a form maytrigger a text field suggestion overlay to be selected.

In some embodiments, the client application may display one or moreoverlays over the web page. The one or more overlays may be similar andserve the same purpose. In certain embodiments, the one or more overlaysmay vary and serve differing purposes. For instance, a social feedbackoverlay may be displayed along with a navigational flow overlay. Inother cases, a tutorial overlay may be displayed along with anothertutorial overlay. The one or more overlays may be displayed until actedupon and/or a new web page is received and displayed.

Referring now to operation (1505), and in some embodiments, the clientapplication can receive feedback relating to the display of the overlay.Upon presenting overlay content and receiving user interaction, overlayagent 1100 may collect and send feedback to the overlay services 1200via the feedback provider 1112. The overlay agent 1100 may use thereceived feedback, for example in operation (1510). The receivedfeedback may be used to modify subsequent overlay content and/or may thecondition detection, supplemental content selection, and supplementalcontent presentation policies.

In certain embodiments, the client application may maintain statisticsrelating to the display of the overlay content over the web page in theembedded browser. The statistics may be stored in a data structure, suchas an array or a list. In some embodiments, the statistics may be storedin a database. The client application may maintain statistics in thesupplemental content tracker 1208 and/or feedback manager 1210. Thesupplemental content tracker 1208 may have a data structure for eachcategory of data. For example, data relating to social feedback may bestored in a different data structure than data relating to text fieldautofill feedback.

Feedback received and statistics maintained may provide insight relatingto the display of the overlay. Information regarding button clicksand/or link clicks may be recorded. In some case, text from text fieldsand/or other form fields may be recorded. In some embodiments,supplemental content tracker 1208 may track the information.

Referring now to operation (1510), and in some embodiments, the clientapplication can modify the overlay content. Responsive to receivingfeedback indication (step 1505), the overlay services 1200, specificallythe feedback manager 1210, may manage the feedback regarding the overlaycontent. The feedback manager 1210 may modify the overlay content andits respective conditions and/or policies in the supplemental contentpackage 1120. Modifying the overlay content may be done to increase theusability of the web page and/or better serve the user.

In some embodiments, overlay content may be added to or removed fromexisting overly content. Overlay content may be modified to better suitthe web page next time it is displayed. For example, if text autofillsuggestions prove to not be valuable, the text autofill suggestionoverlay content may be removed, for example from the supplementalcontent package 1120. In addition, the condition detection, supplementalcontent selection, and/or supplemental content presentation policies maybe modified. For example, a new policy may be added. In some cases, anexisting policy may be removed if it is deemed unnecessary (e.g., if atutorial proves to not be helpful). In other cases, an existing policymay be modified to include more use cases and/or cover more overlaycontent.

In some embodiments, steps 1500-1510 of the current process may be usedin conjunction with steps 1400-1415 of the process depicted in FIG. 14.For example, steps 1415 and 1500 may represent displaying the sameoverlay content. Upon receiving the web page (1405) and presenting theoverlay content over the web page (1415 and 1500), feedback may bereceived (1505) and overlay content may be modified (1510).

It should be understood that the systems described above may providemultiple ones of any or each of those components and these componentsmay be provided on either a standalone machine or, in some embodiments,on multiple machines in a distributed system. The systems and methodsdescribed above may be implemented as a method, apparatus or article ofmanufacture using programming and/or engineering techniques to producesoftware, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. In addition,the systems and methods described above may be provided as one or morecomputer-readable programs embodied on or in one or more articles ofmanufacture. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass code or logic accessible from and embedded in oneor more computer-readable devices, firmware, programmable logic, memorydevices (e.g., EEPROMs, ROMs, PROMs, RAMs, SRAMs, etc.), hardware (e.g.,integrated circuit chip, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.), electronicdevices, a computer readable non-volatile storage unit (e.g., CD-ROM,USB Flash memory, hard disk drive, etc.). The article of manufacture maybe accessible from a file server providing access to thecomputer-readable programs via a network transmission line, wirelesstransmission media, signals propagating through space, radio waves,infrared signals, etc. The article of manufacture may be a flash memorycard or a magnetic tape. The article of manufacture includes hardwarelogic as well as software or programmable code embedded in a computerreadable medium that is executed by a processor. In general, thecomputer-readable programs may be implemented in any programminglanguage, such as LISP, PERL, C, C++, C #, PROLOG, or in any byte codelanguage such as JAVA. The software programs may be stored on or in oneor more articles of manufacture as object code.

While various embodiments of the methods and systems have beendescribed, these embodiments are illustrative and in no way limit thescope of the described methods or systems. Those having skill in therelevant art can effect changes to form and details of the describedmethods and systems without departing from the broadest scope of thedescribed methods and systems. Thus, the scope of the methods andsystems described herein should not be limited by any of theillustrative embodiments and should be defined in accordance with theaccompanying claims and their equivalents.

We claim:
 1. A method for displaying one or more overlays for a networkapplication accessed via an embedded browser of the client application,the method comprising: (a) establishing, by a client application on aclient device, one or more sessions to one or more network applicationsaccessed via an embedded browser of the client application; (b)receiving, by the embedded browser of the client application, a web pageof a network application of the one or more network applications; (c)identifying, by the client application based at least on the networkapplication, one or more overlays to be displayed over the web page inthe embedded browser; and (d) displaying, by the client application, theone or more overlays over the web page in the embedded browser.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the embedded browser is integrated into theclient application.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the networkapplication comprises an application hosted on a server accessed by theclient device via a network, the entity of the server different from theentity of the client device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein (b)further comprises identifying a form of the web page and wherein (c)further comprises identifying the one or more overlays based on the formof the webpage of the network application.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more overlays comprises a navigation elementprompting the user to interact with a portion of the web page.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein (c) further comprises identifying the one ormore overlays based on a policy for the network application.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein (d) further comprising displaying, by theembedded browser, the one or more overlays.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more overlays are provided to the client applicationvia a second entity different from an entity of the server hosting thenetwork application.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising (e)maintaining, by the client application in a data structure, statisticsrelating to the display of the one or more overlays over the web page inthe embedded browser.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising (f)transmitting, by the client application, the statistics relating to thedisplay of the one or more overlays to a second entity different from anentity of the server hosting the network application, the statisticsused by the second entity to inform i) the provider of the networkapplication to update the network application based on the statisticsreceived from a plurality of client applications including the clientapplication or ii) an entity generating the overlays to update one ormore overlays based on the statistics received from a plurality ofclient applications including the client application.
 11. A system fordisplaying one or more overlays for a network application accessed viaan embedded browser of the client application, the system comprising: aclient application on a client device in communication with a firstserver of a first entity, via an embedded browser of the clientapplication configured to: establish one or more sessions to one or morenetwork applications accessed via an embedded browser of the clientapplication; receive, by the embedded browser of the client application,a web page of a network application of the one or more networkapplications; identify based at least on the network application, one ormore overlays to be displayed over the web page in the embedded browser;and display the one or more overlays over the web page in the embeddedbrowser.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the embedded browser isintegrated into the client application.
 13. The system of claim 11,wherein the network application comprises an application hosted on aserver accessed by the client device via a network, the entity of theserver different from the entity of the client device.
 14. The system ofclaim 11, wherein to identify based at least on the network application,one or more overlays to be displayed over the web page in the embeddedbrowser, the client application is further configured to identify a formof the web page; and wherein to identify a form of the web page, theclient application is further configured to the one or more overlaysbased on the form of the webpage of the network application.
 15. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the one or more overlays comprises anavigation element prompting the user to interact with a portion of theweb page.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein to identify based at leaston the network application, one or more overlays to be displayed overthe web page in the embedded browser, the client application is furtherconfigured to identify the one or more overlays based on a policy forthe network application.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein to displaythe one or more overlays over the web page in the embedded browser theclient application is further configured to display, by the embeddedbrowser, the one or more overlays.
 18. The system of claim 11, whereinthe one or more overlays are provided to the client application via asecond entity different from an entity of the server hosting the networkapplication.
 19. The system of claim 11, wherein the client applicationis further configured to maintain in a data structure, statisticsrelating to the display of the one or more overlays over the web page inthe embedded browser.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein the clientapplication further configured to transmit the statistics relating tothe display of the one or more overlays to a second entity differentfrom an entity of the server hosting the network application, thestatistics used by the second entity to inform i) the provider of thenetwork application to update the network application based on thestatistics received from a plurality of client applications includingthe client application or ii) an entity generating the overlays toupdate one or more overlays based on the statistics received from aplurality of client applications including the client application.